Category Archives: England

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Brew York, England, Stout - Milk / Sweet Imperial

Brew York Empress Tonkoko BA Heaven Hill

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Brewery: Brew York
Country: England
ABV: 10.6%
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet Imperial
Other Notes: State of Mind Edition 2024. Heaven Hill BA, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Coconut & Cacao Imperial Milk Stout

Brewer Description: (from can) Brewed and released just once a year, each Barrel Aged Empress Tonkoko release spends at least 12 months in a unique selection of barrels. Heaven Hill Bourbon was selected to add a caramel sweetness, subtle rye spice, and rich oak to add depth to an already deeply decadent beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.16

Intro: A 330ml can, 2024 State of Mind Edition (not sure what this means), with a best before date of 27th November 2026. Poured into whatever glass I could find at the hotel.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger beige head that had good retention, and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Dessert, coconut flakes, vanilla, caramel, tonka beans, nutty, toasted almonds, dark chocolate.
Taste: Light roast, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, coconut, bourbon, tonka, nutty, boozy, and a light spiciness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper with a very nice aroma.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing, Wild Ale

Mills Vienna

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 4%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Vienna is a single barrel bottling made from one brew in May 2019. We made a turbid wort with Vienna malt, rye and raw barley. Solevian hops, both aged and fresh, were added during the boil. Fermentation and maturation took place in a well travelled 500 litre butt which was previously used for sherry, Scotch whisky and Herefordshire cider. The beer was bottled after 30 months in barrel, then conditioned slowly over winter.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in November 2021, with a best before date of November 2031. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear golden colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and eventually settled to a thin cap while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, sweet apple, lemon zest, oak.
Taste: Tart, light to moderate sour, lemon, apple, funk, oak.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Light, balanced, refreshing, with enjoyable aroma and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing, Wild Ale

Mills Chuckleberry

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 6%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This beer is a blend of two brews produced in June and September 2019. They were made from a turbid wort, using rye malt and aged hops. Fermentation and maturation took place in red Bordeaux barrels. The resulting blend was added to a large quantity of locally grown chuckleberries to referment for five months. The beer then conditioned in bottle for a further three months before release.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in November 2021, with a best before date of November 2026. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice reddish dark magenta colour with a two finger pinkish head that had decent retention while eventually settling to a ring around the glass and leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, gooseberry, redcurrant, red wine grapes, funk, wood, and a splash of blackcurrant.
Taste: What you’d expect from the aroma, tart, light to moderate sour, gooseberry, redcurrant, funk, earthy, wood, and blackcurrant notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Balanced and easy drinking, and my first time trying something with chuckleberry in it.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing, Wild Ale

Mills Running Beer

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This beer is a blend of four brews produced in November 2018, January/March 2019 and May 2020. The worts were made using malted rye and aged hops. They fermented and matured in a mixture of oak barrels previously used by French Burgundy wine and American Bourbon whiskey producers. Running beer was the first recipe we designed for Mills Brewing. This is blend eight.

We still have no set recipe for Running Beer, but blend to a similar flavour profile each time. We produce a variety of worts and welcome the natural variation we are given by the barrels.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.82
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, blend eight, bottled in November 2021, with a best before date of November 2031. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour, with a two finger white head that had good retention and settled to a nice thin cap and good lacing.
Aroma: Funky, farmhouse, wood, apple, lemon zest, and slight whisky notes.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, funky, musty, green apple, lemon zest, lightly vinous, oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Interesting aroma and flavours, maybe not my favourite, but it does work.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing, Wild Ale

Mills Table Beer

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 3%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Table Beer is a blend of two different worts produced in February 2020 using traditional turbid mashing. Rye, oat and barley malts were mashed and seven year old Hallertau Hersbrucker hops were used in the boil. The worts were fermented together with our house culture of yeast and bacteria in a stainless steel vessel (a first for us) to keep the delicate aromatics as fresh as possible. After 18 months the beer was dry-hopped with whole-cone Polish Magnum.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2021, with a best before date of August 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruity, mango, lychee, citrus, lemon zest, with some light funk in the background.
Taste: Sour, citrusy, lemon, lemon zest, with grainy wheat notes on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Super refreshing and just drinks really easy. An enjoyable palate cleanser.