Lees Centenary Ale Oldham College (1993)

Gentle carbonation. Dark rosey amber. Very sweet. Excellent toffee, fudge and malt flavours with a hint of chocolate. This is yummy stuff. Very drinkable, packed with flavours, malty and sweet and oh so delicious. I do love it when a vintage beer comes together like this. One of the best!

Judges Brewery The Willow Country Club (1993)

More like a cider than a beer. This tastes like an infected bottle conditioned beer. Those who like lambic might like it. I don't.

Rugby based brewery Judges produced two regular beers, Barristers Bitter and Old Gravel Bender.  They were formed in 1992 by home brewer Graham Judge; by 1999 they were struggling financially, and were taken over by a local business. This is a special bottle made for a meeting of the Association of Bottled Beer Collectors - today known as the Association for British Brewery Collectables, whose website is breweriana.org.uk.

Saint-Omer Blonder Brau (1990)

Vintage 1990 stubby 250ml bottle, 4.6% abv. There's little of interest here. It's a gentle sweet, slightly watery malt with mushroom, corn and cereal aromas. Very little carbonation left, and some tannic notes. Quite drinkable, but not great.

Younger's Brown Ale (1994)

275ml bottle from 1994. Liquid brown bread. Slight carbonation. Slight sweetness. This is like a kvass. Drinkable and attractive, though lacking genuine character. Very soft.

January 2010

Gales Tudor Pale Ale (1987)

Vintage bottle 1987. Soft and attractive. Flavours are restrained, and include toffee, port, rust, bark, boiled beef, Kvass, Irn Bru, and wholemeal bread soaked in cola. Light carbonation. A very drinkable and enjoyable beer. All too quickly consumed!


January 2010

Bathams Best Bitter (1989)

1989 bottle from The Bull and Bladder brewpub in the Black Country. Soft and fruity - very drinkable - slight exotic fruit notes of mango and pineapple, combined with rust. Few hops. This is not a complex beer, but is very easy drinking and enjoyable.


December 2009

Busch (1995)

Very soft aged version - approx 1995. There’s very little flavour here, but some soft watery malt emerges. No awareness of hops. Not much happening. Wet ghost. No off flavours. No carbonation left. Drinkable.

December 2009