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I picked up an eclectic mix of stuff at Redmond's yesterday and I'm really getting things started off on the right foot:

My first choice was the Williams Bros Brewing Company (Kelliebank, Alloa, Scotland) "Midnight Sun" "Rich, Dark, and Spicy Porter".

Fantastic! What's really suprising is how great of a stout this porter is; why they call it a porter is beyond me.

Malted Barley, Oats, Roast Barley, and of course Chocolate Malt; nothing suprising in the ingredients so far, until you see "fresh root ginger" sneak its way in there...

The porter purists would argue that Roast Barley shouldn't be present in a Porter and is an ingredient reserved strictly for stouts, but regardless of what the style guidelines think, my tongue and nose are certainly happy that they did what they did.

I can not identify any ginger so it seems to play a near silent role in the taste profile; to me this beer is squarely in the Stout category by appearance, ingredients, and taste but regardless of what you call it it's delicious.

They added enough oats that the mouth feel is really full and gorgeously smooth. They didn't skimp on the hops either; it's overflowing with hops after the first sip. It's like you took an Imperial Stout/ RIS and ratched down the alcohol to 5.6%.

I truely cannot wait to explore what else Williams Bros has to offer; I really hope some other off licenses start carrying Williams Bros beers.

RIS is my favorite style, but it's usually a really bad idea to have more than one as the alcohol content is so high and the price of entry is pretty steep, too; this has all the flavor of a RIS, without the alcohol burn. I could actually enjoy 2 of these in one session and get twice the flavor for the same amount of alcohol.

This beer will have to permanently remain in my beer cellar. I've not found a stout with more flavor for the alcohol/malt content than this.


Pre-submission EDIT: Don't take a drink for 3-4 minutes and the ginger appears on your tongue; once you recognize it you can taste it on every sip.


Amazing! The most happy I've been with a new beer from a brewery I've never heard of in a long, long time.

HUGE flavor of a RIS in 5.6%; no idea how they did it...

Adam

I got this from Drink Store recently and it's fantastic. I love almost everything I've had from Williams Bros. Their historic ale range are all excellent. I love Grozet, Kelpie and Ebulum. Kelpie in particular. Their 7 Giraffes ale is well worth checking out too. Don't forget Fraoch and Roisin either. Plenty to keep your taste buds busy!

Wow, I can't wait!

I have actually had Fraoch a few times, I just never realized who brewed it.

I'm going to have to find a way to get "Midnight Sun" imported by the case; it's a real shame that the breweries direct-to-consumer internet shop won't deliver to Ireland at all (not even to the north...).



Adam

"Biertourist":3m9tvz1i wrote: I'm going to have to find a way to get "Midnight Sun" imported by the case; it's a real shame that the breweries direct-to-consumer internet shop won't deliver to Ireland at all (not even to the north...).

Adam[/quote:3m9tvz1i]

It wouldn't be worth the hassle with excise for them to deliver to Ireland. Drinkstore will deliver by the case for Eur 2.80 a bottle - free delivery for City centre post codes on orders over Eur 50.

I had their IPA while sitting outside on Saturday. Lovely Summer drinking. Made with Lager and Wheat malts and hopped with Amarillo.

£1.79 in Peckhams in Scotland for them William Bros. I think.

I tried Midnight Sun from this:[img:1t6ipyl5]http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/surveyofsociety/th_Image129.jpg[/img:1t6ipyl5][/url:1t6ipyl5]

I probably had a few too many of them as I was a little sensative the next day. £1.79 for a pint in Weatherspoons <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) -->

Forgot to try the Fraoch <!-- s:oops: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_redface.gif" alt="" title="Embarassed" /><!-- s:oops: -->

&amp;quot;Biertourist&amp;quot;:1aqfjo82 wrote: I can not identify any ginger so it seems to play a near silent role in the taste profile; to me this beer is squarely in the Stout category by appearance, ingredients, and taste but regardless of what you call it it's delicious.
[/quote:1aqfjo82]Strange that - I got a very pronounced ginger profile from this beer - I thought it tasted like XMas pudding (in a good way!)