They say…

Des de Moor
Best beer and travel writing award 2015, 2011 -- British Guild of Beer Writers Awards
Accredited Beer Sommelier
Writer of "Probably the best book about beer in London" - Londonist
"A necessity if you're a beer geek travelling to London town" - Beer Advocate
"A joy to read" - Roger Protz
"Very authoritative" - Tim Webb.
"One of the top beer writers in the UK" - Mark Dredge.
"A beer guru" - Popbitch.
Des de Moor

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Kingstone Classic Bitter, 1503 Tudor Ale and Humpty’s Fuddle

Beer sellers:

ABV: 4.5%, 4.8% and 58%
Origin: Tyndyrn, Sir Fynwy, Cymru
Website: www.kingstonebrewery.co.uk

I tasted several bottle conditioned beers during a visit to the adjoining  in the breathtakingly beautiful Wye Valley for a Beers of the World piece in 2008. There’s more background to the brewery in my review of Kingstone Gold, but these beers were also notable either as favourites of the brewery owner or ones that impressed me.

Award winning Classic is an orange-amber beer with a slightly bubbly off-white head made from pale and crystal malt, hopped with four quite distinctive hop varieties: Northern Brewer, Bramling Cross, Cascade and Willamette. The aroma is fresh and creamy but relatively restrained with citric and malt notes. A dry and tangy palate has cracker-like malt and marmalade, with a slight burnt rubber touch. A note of roasty crystal makes its presence felt on a biscuity dry finish with long lasting peppery hops turning quite earthy and rooty. A decent, well-made with an unusual hop profile.

1503 Tudor Ale


1503 Tudor Ale
commemorates the date of the first manuscript reference to the use of hops in British brewing, as recorded by Richard Arnold. The idea that this old ale closely resembles something Arnold might have brewed is surely fanciful, but 1503 tastes pretty good in its own right, and is certainly old fashioned in inspiration. Brown and smoked malts, used alongside pale and malts and some malted wheat and oats, recall the darker, smokier malt flavours of centuries past, while the single hop is the old established Fuggles variety. The result is chestnut brown, with a thick fawn head and a roasty burnt toffee and fruit aroma. The palate is dry but slightly treacly, with orange and apple notes, slightly musty yeast flavours, burnt rubber, smoke, lemon squash and caramel notes, but remains light in texture given the vivid flavours. There’s ripe orange on a juicy, slightly nutty and very moreish finish that develops late chocolate hints.

Humpty's Fuddle IPA

Humpty’s Fuddle, previously known as Humpty Dumpty’s Downfall, is the brewery’s fair enough version of an old-style strong IPA, again hopped only with Fuggles, its pale malt bolstered with crystal malt and maize. This mid-amber beer has a thick and creamy pale fawn head and a yeasty ,malty aroma with a touch of banana. A firm pale malt palate has orange notes, peach syrup and oily spices. There are more orange and spice flavours in the finish which is slightly vinous, distantly reminiscent of Orval, with fennel and peach flavours and a late sprinkling of hops.

Read more about these beers at ratebeer.com:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kingstone-classic-bitter/58236/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kingstone-1503-tudor-ale/79622/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kingstone-humptys-fuddle/104672/

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