....it's all about the beer!

....so last night we had the Lawson's over for nibbles and drinks and me 'n' Tony worked our way through same fine ales and we graded them as we went!

We started with:
Honey Jamaican me Ginger from Tempest Brewing Company
It's safe to say that we didn't feel this was a good start to the night. We liked the idea of the honey taste and expected to be transported to the Caribbean. Sadly we were not impressed. There was an, at first interesting, smokey experience that soon jaded the taste buds and meant we didn't feel we got any honey in the mix. Very poor overall we thought.
"Too smokey"
"No honey taste"
Tony: 2.5/10 Stephen 4/10

Then:
Pedigree from Marstons
This is a good session beer! You could drink lots of this! What it gains in drink-ability though it loses on impact. It is what it is and you could probably keep drinking it all night if you were so minded so that probably means it's a good ale.
"A session drink"
"Sadly, didn't keep its head"
Tony: 7.5/10 Stephen 6/10

Then:
Radical Road from Stewart Brewing
This is a triple hopped pale ale which we thought was great was lots of great flavour and aroma. a definite for a further purchase
"Good aroma"
"Nice after taste"
"Good head"
Tony: 7.5/10 Stephen 6.5/10

Then:
Gosnells London Mead
This was awesome and gave the drinking session a definite change of pace. Obviously it's a bit unfair to compare mead to the previous ales but on a night of drinking you do move about the range of options. It was sweet but not sickly and very refreshing to taste.
"Smooth and sweet"
"Feels like a cross between cider and beer with hints to both"
"Good sweet taste"
Tony: 9/10 Stephen 8.5/10

And finally:
Hiver
We finished with a honey beer that straddled between the mead and the beers that had gone before. This was a great follow on to the mead borrowing some of the sweetness but with a definite beery quality.
"Lovely honey taste"
"Was a good mainstream drinker - giving a beer quality as well as the sweet honey - but maybe a little too mainstream"
"was very palatable"
Tony 7.5/10 Stephen 7.5/10