Postman's Knock
Hobsons Brewery

April 2013: 500 ml bottle conditioned, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 4.8%. The main label calls the beer a "rich ruby porter", while a side label calls it a "strong mild". Whatever - it is a decent beer anyway. Mahogany coloured beer, clear first, hazy when the yeast is poured in the end. Low beige head. Moderate natural carbonation. Malty aroma and flavour with mild roasty notes, hints of ripe berries, chocolate and mild coffee. Not very sweet, a moderate bitterness in the finish. Not bad, and "very English".

 

500ml bottle. Pours dark brown with ruby edging and almost no head despite a rough pour. Light aroma of cocoa and caramel. Taste follows the nose, but with a little more obvious chocolate flavour. Noticeable bitterness. Body is light but clean. Although the front label describes this beer as a “rich ruby porter”, the back label describes the style as “strong mild”. For me, it’s much more a mild than a porter. Pretty ordinary, overall. Not unpleasant but nothing special.

L: Dark chestnut in colour with hints of bright red at the bottom, one-finger initial head, some lacing
S: Milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, roasted malts, plum
T: Milk chocolate, well-done toast, toffee, dark fruits, roasted malts
F: Medium-bodied, somewhat complex, carbonation not overpowering

O: 4

 

Light brow reddish color with a thick thin beige head with decent retention.
Nice aroma with lots of chocolatey notes, strawberries and vanilla.
Flavor with notes of cocoa, English earthy hops, nuts, biscuit, a bit of toffee, vanilla, berries and wood. Dry aftertaste with a medium bitterness.
Light body with good carbonation.
Very pleasant and perfectly balanced Porter with chocolatey, earthy and berries notes. Original flavor.

 

I am VERY excited to be drinking this one at last! I had purchased it (& No. 1) at Hunger-n-Thirst's bottle shop here in Lancaster, PA a while back & relegated it to the Bottle Backlog at Chez Woody until today. It was not out of malice aforethought, but when I was in Springfield, VA recently & I saw a bottle of No. 2 on the shelf at Total Wine & More, I snapped it up for today's horizontal. As a 20th century combat buff, I love that this beer commemorates a veteran!

From the bottle: "No. 3 - Series 1"; "A BEER THAT REALLY DELIVERS"; "Returning from World War I suffering from the effects of poison gas, novelist Simon Evans settled in Cleobury Mortimer, home to Hobsons. He decided to become a postman - his daily 18-mile round proved the perfect way yo recuperate as well as inspiration for his witty short stories."; "Naturally conditioned[,] contains sediment"; "Style[:] Mild[;] See[:] Ruby[;] Smell[:] Chocolate, Spicy[;] Taste[:] Vanilla, Treacle[;] Bitter[:] 2.5/5[;] Sweet[:] 3.5/5".

The bottle came with a beautiful foil wrapper around both the neck & cap, so I carefully removed it to preserve it for a local artist who specializes in bottle cap art. After Pop!ping the cap, I was equally gentle in my pour since the label clearly showed the presence of sediment. Once sufficiently decanted, I gave it a vigorous in-glass swirl to raise two fingers of dense, rocky, foamy, light-tan head with decent retention. Color was Brown to Dark Brown (SRM = > 22, < 27), although closer to Brown (22), with NE-quality clarity & ruby highlights. Nose had a pleasant nutty sweetness & I am sure that this is an English Brown Ale. It is almost definitely NOT an English Porter, although I will work to verify my supposition. In the interim, I am going to proceed as though it were an EBA. Mouthfeel was medium with a moderate amount of carbonation. I really like the way that these beers have matured in the bottle to give them a modicum of carbonation so as not to render them flat, but at the same time, removing the prickliness that sometimes results in beer. I did not really get any spiciness on either the nose or in the taste, but I will definitely buy chocolate, vanilla & treacle. All inappropriate tastes for a Porter, but spot-on for an EBA. Finish had a slight peppery spiciness, leaving it semi-dry in total. I want more!

500 ml bottle with 5.1% ABV indicated; consumed on BB date.

A: Dark but clear cola brown with pleasing ruby-brown highlights and a modest size light tan head. Good retention and spotty lacing.

Aroma: caramel and chocolate malts with a hint of spicy hops.

Flavor: Roasted malts dominate but spicy hops are evident. Hints of pepper, chocolate and toffee.

Feel: near medium bodied but seems slightly watery. Smooth. Medium+ carbonation.

Overall: Better aroma than flavor.

500 ml bottle

pours a dark brown in color with ruby highlights, white head that fades. aroma is sweet - some molasses. taste has a bit of a sour finish, not real great. thin to medium bodied. no roasted malt flavors at all - wouldn't call a porter. more like a brown ale. either way, wouldn't drink again.

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance - Deep rich ruby almost barley wine like colour with a thick tan head of tight foam that dies to a lace cover over a body of moderate to heavy streaming CO2 in a dark vessel.

Smell - Very sweet with treacle and golden syrup leanings mixed in with almost burnt malts and dried fruits, mostly on the prune fig end of things. There is also very nice bitter coco elements in here.

Taste - Every bit as good as the aroma, this beer boasts a heavy malt front. The malt flavour profile ranges from the treacle and syrup end to the burnt and dark malt end with plenty of pastry and dried fruit in between the two. The whole brew is well balanced by the bitter choc back and the earthy woody hop. However they do promise vanilla on the bottle and I simply do not get it!

Mouth feel - smooth and creamy with moderate body and a rich long lived linger with some lightly astringent and drying properties.

Overall - Very good! This beer boasts big malt flavour which is balanced nicely by a good hop element!

 

 

 

A: Pour an almost opaque but clear cola brown with minimal amounts of gentle visible carbonation along the surface of the beer and a light amount of ruby red highlights. The beer has a half finger tall sudsy foamy light tan head that reduces to a medium to large patch of very thin film and a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of chocolate malts with a hint of peppery spicy hops.

T: Upfront there is a moderate flavor of chocolate and roasted malts with a hint of toffee sweetness and vanilla. Moderate amounts of peppery hops which imparts a light amount of bitterness that does not linger for long.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with slightly heavier than moderate amounts of carbonation. Smooth.

O: I liked the presence of the chocolate malts and the flavors/aromas that were contributed which is a little different than a normal porter but the mouthfeel was a little on the thin side for me. Pretty easy to drink with well hidden alcohol.