When I started this blog, the idea was to tick the Good Bottled Beer Guide. As the months have passed, I’ve realised that my tastes lie in a different direction that the majority of the bottled beer produced in this country. It’s hard to get motivated to try yet another 3.8% brown session beer, no matter how good it is. You could say I’m going through a phase and maybe I am, only time will tell.

I went through a phase earlier in the year where I took notes on a beer, but never got round to blogging about it. I want to clear all the notes out of my phone, but I don’t want to loose them. However, I can’t actually remember drinking half of these beers, so I’m not going to tart up the notes in anyway, they’re here, in the raw, for my benefit. If you find them useful, then so much the better.

So here are the beers that never got a review:

• Old Chimneys
• Great Raft Bitter, 4.1%, 500ml
• Smells like bitter. Tastes a bit lacking in body and slightly watery.

• Old Chimneys
• Scarlet Tiger, 4.9%, 500ml
• Not much of a head, nice dark amber colour, maybe a hint of ruby. Malty nose with fruity notes, gives a sense of body, a tadge of alcohol perhaps. Very smooth mouth feel, malty fruit pudding that dissipate quickly to a long drying bitterish finish. Very, very nice.

• Old Chimneys
• India Pale Ale, 5.6%, 500ml
• Thin rim of head around the outside of the glass. Strong straw colour, slight chill haze. Was expecting hoppy nose, but more malty, with very vague grassy tinge. Strong bitter after taste, but not really a bitter or hoppy taste. Vague homebrewesque notes maybe and not as full bodied as you expect.

• Old Chimneys
• Black Rat Milk Stout, 4.5%, 500ml
• Very dark, but not black. Not really any head and any there was dissipated quickly. Doesn’t really smell of much, maybe a vague fruitiness. Smooth taste, but a tadge lacking in something. It’s got an unpleasant edge to it that appears and disappears relatively quickly.

• Old Chimneys
• Brimstone Pilsener Lager, 6.1%, 500ml
• Light straw colour with a good head that dissipates to a small covering. Think I’m getting a cold or this doesn’t smell of anything in particular. Maybe a tadge of grass? Effervescent mouth feel due to high carbonation. Considering the ABV surprisingly light. A bit too effervescent for my taste…

• Moonshine
• Red Watch Blueberry Ale, 4.2%, 500ml
• Pours a pinkish amber colour with a good head that dissipates to not a lot. Quite a bit of sediment was lifted when pouring. One nostril blocked so not really detecting much on the nose. A very a fizzy mouth feel that is drying but juicy at the same time. You can taste the blueberries.

• Moonshine
• Chocolate Orange Stout, 6.7%, 500ml
• Pours a really dark chocolate colour, dark enough to be opaque. Not really much of a head, just a rim around the edge. Smells dark, malty, earthy roasted fruity notes. Maybe a hint of alcohol. Thick, gloopy almost, rich smooth mouth feel with a roasted after taste that dissipates with a bit of bitterness. Not sure I can taste any orange though…

• Old Chimneys
• Hairy Canary Lemon and Ginger Ale, 4.2%, 275ml
• Poured a strong golden colour with a hint of a haze. There was a bit of a head, bit it dissipated over the next few minutes to leave nothing. Massive ginger nose with the lemon coming through it. My wife thinks it smells like dish washing liquid. The large ginger nose is not replicated in the taste, the ginger is really subtle. There is a larger watery lemon taste that cuts through and over powers, it also makes the body feel a bit insubstantial.

• Old Chimneys
• Pale Ale 1914, 5.7%, 275ml
• Pours a hazy amber colour, a few bubbled with a head that dissipates to a covering round the edges. Smells nice and bitter with an earthy, biscuity undertone. Nice taste, a bit of fizz on the tongue from the conditioning. Some toasted notes coming through the initial bitterness. Nice amount of body, with some digestive biscuit maybe…

• Moonshine
• Harvest Moon Mild, 3.9%, 500ml
• Pours a very dark red, so dark you can’t see through the pint glass. Head doesn’t last very long and totally disappears. Smells like a mild, dark roasted coffee notes, but lacking the full body back up. Lovely smooth mouth feel, roasted malts, some bitterness and a long drying finish. Surprising amount of body, not the least bit watery.

• Moonshine
• Pigs Ear Porter, 4.5%, 500ml
• Pours a really deep brown red, you can just, just see through it. Not much of a head, dissipates to a loose rim around the outside. Not really sure what it smells like, there’s not much going on. There’s something there, I just don’t know what it is. Smooth, roasted, but there’s an underlying taste that isn’t good. A bit of lactic dryness as well, I think a previous bottle was better.

• Moonshine
• Achievement, 4.1%, 500ml
• Pours a straw colour with a head that dissipates to a rim very quickly. Quite well conditioned with lots of bubbles. Smells like a session bitter, a tadge of grass and some hops. Effervescent mouth feel, but it doesn’t detract too badly. Although it does quench the fruitiness that charges through the mouth. Very pleasant, although probably a bit cold as straight from the shed.

• Old Chimneys
• Red Clover, 6.2%, 275ml
• Pours a murky brown with little head. Cloudiness might be due to cold as straight out of the shed. It cleared up as it warmed up. Malty spice nose, more than just cloves going on, rich moist fruit pudding type of thing. Some sour notes in there, full bodied, but with a tinge of wateriness. Spicy notes of the cloves running through the after taste.

• Old Chimneys
• Redshank, 8.7%, 275ml
• Pours a deep brown with a good head. The head dissipates to a rim quite quickly. Smells strong with wisps of alcohol. Malty, with a vague fruitiness hiding away. Smooth, malty, a bit of fruit. Warming alcohol finish. Really nice. REALLY NICE.

• Young’s
• Bitter, 4.5%, 500ml
• Pours a light copper colour with a good head that dissipates after a few minutes, with some lacing, to leave a skin over the top. Smells of flowery fruity bitterness. Feels quite harsh in the mouth due to heavy conditioning. Otherwise it’s really nice with a wonderful lingering fruity after taste.

• Young’s
• Special London Ale, 6.4%, 500ml
• Pours a copper colour with a decent head that drops to a full covering. Smells heavy with a hint of its strength. Biscuity tones maybe. Heavy mouth feel that has a creamy biscuity after taste.

• Old Chimneys
• Golden Pheasant, 4.7%, 500ml
• Pours an inviting golden colour with little head action. Lack of head could be due to storage in shed though. Smells grassy with a hint of flora. A tinge of biscuity malt as well maybe. Light, almost watery that is then backed up by some biscuity malt. Then a lingering drying finish. Not particularly bitter, but really drying.

• Oldershaw
• Alchemy, 5.3%, 500ml
• Pours a lovely dark straw colour with a good head that takes a while to dissipate, but still gives a covering. Not a lot going on on the nose, maybe some vague grassy notes, plus a hint of something I can’t quite put my hand on. Quite full bodied, maybe some biscuit notes, with a very lemony citrus taste that comes to the fore and dominates. Can still taste the lemon during the long lingering drying after taste.

• Three B’s
• Knocker Up, 4.8%, 500ml
• Pours a very dark ruby brown with a good cream head which slowly dissipates. Good condition from the bottle. Smells buiscuity, like a digestive, with vague coffee roastedness. My wife thinks it has some spice in there like gingerbread or similar. Starts off innocuous and smooth, then a sharp almost unpleasant roastedness cuts through. Not sure what the unpleasant taste is from, but there is something there, that I don’t like. Definite drying lingering liquorice after taste. It’s nicer as I get through the bottle, smoother, but there is still an under taste that I’m not liking.

• Humpty Dumpty
• Porter, 5.4%, 500ml
• Pours a really deep brown, nearly black. Not much head, just around the edge of the glass. Not much phutzz when opening the bottle, but in good condition. Watery roasted notes on the nose, not a lot else. Quite a bit of body, that’s hidden behind some roasted notes. It’s like it’s going to be watery, but it’s not, as the body comes in. The roastedness is subtle and not too grating. However, there is a creamyness in the background, sort of lactic in nature. Half way down the glass I’m not liking this at all, really not that pleasant…

• Pitfield
• 1824 Mild, 6%, 500ml
• Pours a really deep dark copper brown. Fantastic beige head that settles to a skin over the surface. Good condition. Smells of a vague roastedness as well as some sort of fruity tone, maybe green apple? Tastes like a bad homebrew, green apples and loads of drying yeast. On further tastes the green apple is a bit muted, but the drying yeast is still there. Most of it went down the sink, very disappointing.

• Humpty Dumpty
• Swallowtail, 4%, 500ml
• Pours a dark straw colour with basically no head. Lots of little bubbles though. Really doesn’t smell of much, maybe a vague grassy flowery note but hardly anything, maybe some malt. Pleasant, good body, not particularly bitter, but refreshing with it. Has a fruity tone to the after taste that is then replaced by a buiscity flavour.

• Humpty Dumpty
• Reedcutter, 4.4%, 500ml
• Pours a golden straw yellow with a good head that dissipates to a covering. Good conditioning, lots of little bubbles. Doesn’t really smell of much to be honest, at least I can’t smell anything. Nice if unspectacular. Has some sort of fruity tinge to the after taste, they claim pineapple, quite probably. As I finished the bottle, there is a noticeable malty backbone and I find myself really quite liking it. Wish there was another couple of mouthfuls.

• Humpty Dumpty
• Hop Harvest Gold, 4.9%, 500ml
• Pours a really pale golden colour with a big head that holds quite well and leaves a good covering. Looks like it has good condition with lots of little bubbles. Not an overpowering smell, just a hint of something in the background. Some citrus maybe. Quite a harsh mouth feel due to some effervescence. Hoppy, but not overly so, nice malty tones too. Would be nicely balanced if not for the effervescence. Fruity after taste, but in a British hop way. Nice.

• Adnams
• William Godell, 4.5%, 500ml
• Pours a dark copper brown with a good cream head that dissipates to a covering. Has a subtle bitter aroma that covers the malt. Hard to put your finger on it being citrus or grassy. Nice mouth feel, not too bubbly. Nice malty body with enough bitterness to cut through. Drinks well through the bottle.