Knees Poised for a Raising!

So this is the first. Quite fitting really, they do these kind of beers really well. (strong and English I mean) Yes I am of course talking about the first Wedding Ale which is currently gracing our shop shelves.

The brew made to celebrate the marriage of Will & Kate, is made by a favourite of mine: Durham brewery. (If you follow my posts you will find that, yes, many breweries fit into my favourite breweries category!.... oh well.)

Something Blue (alright name, could be worse) is the 10% beast from the large range of respectable bottled beers we stock from these guys, I wouldn't mind a night with one of these and a Temptation - their 10% Imperial Stout!

It's a strong ale at the basics of it, and from the looks of it a dark one too!

Aromas: The nose comes across with heavy fruit tones. There's some wood, with some dry nuttiness. Quite a bit of toffee and a nice Fuggle earthy-ness.

Flavour: From the first sip, you can tell this is a massive beer, it's so rich and fruity. Name a fruit and you probably wouldn't go wrong. Hints of plum, pear, apples, oranges and grapes. The orange comes across in a nice caramelized marmalade effect, which is smooth and also warming. Lots of malt in there, quite thick and almost flat but it's still got some carbonation zing left in too (managed to form the classic quickly disappearing head trick). The finish is rich and looong. I'm not quite sure if it's a richness which leads to a big bitterness or a slight tartness, but it's good either way!

A big beer, and a welcome new addition to our brimming shelves, see it - grab it. The only problem is, there's 5 units in this bottle, so I need to find someone to finish the last 1 unit. Otherwise I'd be breaking the law!