Tasting Notes: Allgates: Unhinged

Allgates: Unhinged (England: English Strong Ale: 7.5% ABV)

Visual: Dark burgundy red with a wonderful creamy treacle coloured head.

Nose: Cherry, cinnamon, sherry, fruit. Christmas cake. Fortified wine. Thick cream. Rich and a wonderful winter feast for the nose.

Body: Hard pastry, a thick texture and slightly bitter. Icing sugar dusting, biscuits, liquorice, vanilla and cream.

Finish: Charred wood, biscuits. Slick but with some hops.

Conclusion: What a nose, wonderful and varied with a solid body backing it up. The finish isn’t exceptional, but the rest of the beer plays well enough that you don’t really mind.

A very powerful fruit cake body and decent sweetness – best taken like a small perfectly wrapped present – it wouldn’t work in larger doses but at the correct size (in this case a half pint)its perfect.

A tipple worth celebrating in small quantities that ring out with joy.