Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Melthair's Best Ales


After careful deliberation, the Melthair reviewers have selected their finest ales from the 1000+ reviewed on this blog. It's a mixture of the wild and familiar. Click on the link below the photos to find the original review and then go out and try for yourself. The ales are in no particular order, but if you are wondering what is the best ale of all? Find out at the bottom!



Magic Rock - Human Cannonball 

"An awesome mouth-feel. Dear god. This is so nice."

http://www.aleguider.com/2011/11/magic-rock-brewing-human-canonball-92.html


Dogfish Head - Palo Santo Marron

"Whoa Momma! A real treat!"

http://www.aleguider.com/2011/10/dogfish-head-palo-santo-marron-12.html


Durham Brewery - Bede's Chalice

"An American hopped Belgian style triple turns out to be a wonderful thing."

 http://www.aleguider.com/2011/09/durham-brewery-bedes-chalice-belgian.html


Skinner's Brewery - Betty Stoggs (Draught only) 

"A lovely warm hug from a friendly golden retriever!"

 http://www.aleguider.com/2008/08/betty-stogs-skinners-cornish-ale-4.html


Hopback Brewery - Summer Lightning (draught is better)

"Would you buy 4? - I couldn't imagine a reality where I wouldn't."

http://www.aleguider.com/2011/04/hopback-summer-lightning-5.html


Gower Breweries -Gold  

"This is a perfect beer garden ale... it's just really delicious."

http://www.aleguider.com/2012/08/gower-brewery-gower-gold-45.html


Kingstone Brewery - 1503 Tudor Ale 

"An almighty taste -  4 of these would transport you back to 1503!"
http://www.aleguider.com/2011/08/kingstone-brewery-1503-tudor-ale-48.html

The Very Best?

It's hard to say, but at a push...


Wye Valley Brewery - Butty Bach 

Draught only AND only from the Three Tuns in Hay on Wye

A disappointment in bottled form, and inconsistent on draught, how could this be the best of the 1000+ ales we have reviewed? The wizardry of ale is the answer!  
If you manage to get a pint of Butty Bach in the Three Tuns at the precise moment when all the elements combine (weather, company, preceding events, snack choice and so on and so on) then you will get the closest thing we have ever tasted to 7 stars - a perfect ale. If one of those elements is out of place, then bad luck. But it's got be worth a try, right?


Sunday, August 16, 2015

Uprising - Treason West Coast IPA 6%




Taste: Another welcome gift. This is right up my alley. A powerfully hopped IPA. I could drink this exclusively. But it's a floozy at 6% so I won't. Lovely beer.

Appearance: Orange I think. But it's dark in here.

Would you buy 2? Yes

Would you buy 4? Yup!

Rating (out of 7): 6****** relentlessly good beers

Uprising Brewery - White Riot 5.3%




Taste: It's a good reason to come out of retirement when this pops through your letterbox! A concerning list of qualities when written down, but this is a masterpiece! I'm no longer stressed about the use of orange zest. In fact I'm going to grate some into each of my future beers. Awesome, bold brewing!

Appearance: frosty yellow. Temporary bottle.

Would you buy 2? Yes.

Would you buy 4? Definitely!

Rating (out of 7): 6****** keep them coming!

Location:Southbourne

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Uprising Brewery - Treason West Coast IPA 5.8%





Taste: The first beer from Windsor's newest brewery. From the son of Windsor & Eton Brewery's, Paddy. This is a really strong first beer. A wildly hopped American styled IPA, really quaffable for 5.8% but best savoured. This is really great!

Appearance: A nice conker red.

Would you buy 2? Yes!

Would you buy 4? If I could get my hands on them.

Rating (out of 7): 6****** this is great stuff. Right up my beer street.

Location:Southbourne, Dorset

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Melthair's Best Breweries in Britain

Having reviewed over 1000 ales the time has come to reveal who we think are the best breweries!

The breweries have been ranked according to the average score their ales have achieved (only breweries with 3 or more reviews have been entered). 
The full table can be seen on the 'Top Brewers' page. 
The curse is lifted.

Rank
Brewery
1
Camden
2
Mikkeller
3
Stone
4
Durham
5
Moor Beer Company
6
Thornbridge
7
Kernel
8
Windsor & Eton
9
Goose Island
10
Magic Rock
11
Vibrant Forest
12
Artisan
13
Gower
14
Maui
15
Ska
16
Bath Ales
17
Tiny Rebel
18
Bristol Beer Factory
19
Hopback
20
Palmers
21
Oakham Ales
22
Brewdog
23
Skinner's
24
Badger
25
Morland
26
Ringwood
27
Brodies
28
Harviestoun
29
Piddle
30
Beavertown
31
Brakspear
32
Redchurch
33
Sadlers
34
Storm
35
Goff's
36
Wooden Hand
37
Otley
38
Itchen Valley
39
Odell
40
Orkney
41
Sambrook's
42
Great Orme
43
Arbor
44
Castle Rock
45
Arundel
46
Tring
47
Lymestone
48
Staffordshire
49
Ascot
50
Hepworth & Co
51
Dorset Brewing
52
Titanic
53
St Austell
54
Hogs Back
55
Adnams
56
Wye Valley
57
Darkstar
58
Brains
59
Fuller's
60
Sharp's
61
Purbeck
62
Northumberland
63
Andwell
64
Roosters
65
Downton
66
Batemans
67
Twickenham
68
William Bros
69
Breconshire
70
Jennings
71
Greene King
72
Robinsons
73
Cottage
74
Brecon Brewing
75
Caledonian
76
Hook Norton
77
Kelham Island
78
Sailtaire
79
Wickwar
80
Wychwood
81
Conwy
82
St Peters
83
Elgoods
84
Youngs
85
Celt
86
Evan Evan's
87
Art Brew
88
Art Brew
89
Duchy Original
90
Williams
91
Pen-Lon Cottage
92
Untapped
93
Black Sheep
94
J. W. Lees
95
Theakston's
96
Tomos Watkin's
97
Joseph Holt
98
Phoenix
99
Thwaite's
100
Vale of Glamorgan
101
Arkells
102
Oxfordshire
103
Sheffield Brewing
104
Shepheard Neame
105
Marstons
106
Rhymney
107
Wells
108
Wadworth's
109
Fallen Angel