The beer tasting notes you will be able to read through this page have been collected since 1992. I was in Belgium working on a SAS software contract when I started the list. The notes were originally made to help me to avoid beers I didn’t want to drink again!
You can find out which type of beer made me create this list at the end of this page, and it is not the beer in the featured image!
Database last updated on 15 November 2024:
| 2,602 different beers of 118 different types from 1,041 different breweries in 62 different countries. |
| 2,500 beer mark achieved on 01 November 2022! |
| 2,000 beer mark achieved on 17 March 2018! |
| 1,500 beer mark achieved on 20 March 2014! |
| 1,000 beer mark achieved on 26 December 2010! |
Key to the Tasting Notes:
You can select a specific country or beer type from the pages on this site, or use the free choice page instead, but you can also record your own tasting preferences for every beer listed, using the following rating key:
| 1 = I won’t drink it again!! [Undrinkable beer!!] |
| 2 = I’ll drink it again, but only if I don’t have to pay for it! [You pay and I will drink it!] |
| 3 = I’ll drink it again (my default rating!). [Drinkable beer] |
| 4 = I’ll drink it again in preference to other beers. [Preferred beer] |
| 5 = I’ll drink it again in preference to all other beers. [The best beer ever!!] |
Featured Beers
I really can organise a “piss-up” in a brewery!
20 September 2014: My 60th birthday party at BlackBar Brewery, Harston, Cambridge.
I was joined at BlackBar Brewery, housed in a small industrial unit in Harston, by 16 friends and relatives for an afternoon of beer tasting. Joe Kennedy (Brewmonkey) produced 8 beers for us to taste in a wide variety of styles: Blacklight (Golden Ale), IPA Noire (Black IPA), Porteur (Brown Porter), MTFU (Orange and Pepper White Beer), Dove Step (Herb and Hop Ale), Long Hair (American IPA), Elusive Digit 2013 (Abbey-style Double Beer), and Theory ’63’ 2013 (Oak Aged Ale). Everyone was given a sheet to rate each beer from 1 to 5, and Joe passionately introduced each beer, including a puzzle to identify which 2 herbs were in Dove Step. No-one rated all the beers exactly the same, including Long Hair that was rated at the extremes! Everyone enjoyed the afternoon. We all came away from the brewery enlightened and very happy!
You can read my own tasting notes from this web site.
I finished the party with a poem:
My thanks to all you here present
For joining me to score beers
For your company at this grand party
To celebrate my own three score years!
My thanks to Joe an excellent fellow
Our host at BlackBar Brewery today
For serving us beers brown, black and yellow
And always with something to say!
A Belgian Mistress!
“Minnares” is Dutch/Flemish for mistress!
The Beer List entry looks like this:
Beer: Minnares (bottle)
Type: Belgian Ale
Strength: 7.5%
Country: Belgium
Description: Colour=Orange, Malty=Yes, Hoppy=No, Effervesce=Yes, Other=Smooth and slightly sweet with a hint of orange and a spicy finish
Preference: 4
Comments: Bottle-conditioned. Artisanaal speciaalbier van hoge gisting met smaakevolutie door hergisting in de fles. Natuurlijke ingredienten: gerstemout, gist, hop, suiker & brouwwater. Ten minste houdbaar tot 2 jaar na botteldatum. Koel & donker bewaren. Schenken op 6-10C.
Speciality bottle-conditioned beer. Natural ingredients: malted barley, yeast, hops, sugar, water. Can be stored for up to 2 years after bottling. Store cool and in the dark. Serve at 6-10C.
A very enjoyable beer from a new Belgian microbrewery.
Very Belgian Beer Humour
The Mannekin-Pis is a famous fountain statue in Brussels. The humour(?) is in the choice of colours.
The Beer List entry looks like this:
Beer: Cantillon Gueuze Lambic (bottle)
Type: Lambic Gueuze Beer
Strength: 5.0%
Brewer: Cantillon
Country: Belgium
Description: Colour=Hazy orange brown, Malty=Yes, Hoppy=No, Effervesce=Yes, Other=Very sour and vinegary
Preference: 2
Comments: www.cantillon.be The Gueuze Cantillon, real spontaneous fermentation beer, is entirely made up of Lambic. This Lambic is brewed with organically grown wheat (35%) and malted barley (65%), and with dried hops. The Gueuze Cantillon is a sour beer that contains absolutely no sugar. In a good cellar it can be kept until 2030. Beer with taste evolution.
I first drank this beer in 1993, while working in Brussels. The Gueuze beer style, which is a blend of matured and young Lambic beers, has a wide range, with this beer at the sour end of the spectrum.
Notable New(?) Beer!
The first 5-rated beer from the UK!
The Beer List entry looks like this:
Beer: Old Thumper (bottle)
Type: Strong Ale
Strength: 5.6%
Brewer: Ringwood
Country: England
Description: Colour=Red brown, Malty=Yes, Hoppy=Yes, Effervesce=Yes, Other=Very fruity and spicy with a warm finish
Preference: 5
Comments: www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk Hampshire’s New Forest was historically the hunting ground of legendary fierce wild boar, the prize kill of many an English King. Ringwood Brewery celebrates this heritage with a real beast of a beer in ‘Old Thumper’. It delivers a deep brown strong ale with a spicy fruity hop aroma and a warming malty finish. CAMRA Beer of Britain Winner 1988.
This old beer (which won an award in 1988!) is a new beer for my list, and was recently bought for me in Southampton by my daughter!! 🙂
I do like strong beers with flavour!
The 2nd 5-rated beer from the UK!
The Beer List entry looks like this:
Beer: 1698 Bottle Conditioned Kentish Strong Ale (bottle)
Type: Strong Ale
Strength: 6.5%
Brewer: Shepherds Neame
Country: England
Description: Colour=Brown, Malty=Yes, Hoppy=No, Effervesce=Yes, Other=Rich smooth fruity taste
Preference: 5
Comments: www.shepherdneame.co.uk Bottle-conditioned. 1698 Bottle Conditioned Kentish Strong Ale is a living product which continues to ferment in the bottle, this creates a natural sediment just like real ale as it ferments in the cask at the pub. Only local hops and malted barley and water drawn from our artesian well are used to brew 1698 Bottle Conditioned Kentish Strong Ale. Hops are added three times, hence it is thrice hopped. Shepherd Neame’s brewery has stood by the meandering salt creek in the ancient port of Faversham for over 300 years. A Royal Court to the Kings of Kent, the town holds no less than 17 Royal Charters and is one of the few allowed to use the three lions crest from the Royal Arms.
What was that beer?
In case you were wondering which beer caused the creation of this list, it was a Kriek (a Belgian Lambic Cherry Beer) with a pink head. I don’t like cherries!
