Old Preacher
Port Dock Brewery Hotel

 

 

Had on tap at the hotel.

Pours a dark ruby red colour with dense beige head. Lacing is thin and speckled. Nice steady bead. Love the colour, otherwise, it's good.

Nose is very malty and roasty. Good dark toffee notes and hints of cocoa and milk coffee. Slight grassy bitterness, with a slight metallic edge. Pleasant malty English smell.

Taste is actually quite spicy. Starts with hints of that toffee malt flavour, then goes slightly bitter with nice herbal notes, slight medicinal character with hints of maraschino cherry. Fair amount of coffee late on the palate, and that's when spice comes through, together with warmth from the alcohol. Back palate has hints of pepper with some rich malt, grassy hops and lime. What a pleasant palate; starts well, the journey is excellent. Really tasty beer.

Fairly full with a decent body, but does feel a bit watery for a 7.5% drop. Slick, I would say, but a bit thinner than I would like given the flavours.

Very, very drinkable beer though. A damned pleasant drop.

the flagship beer from this pub brewery, but one that has lost some of its former glory. since the establishment changed hands a few years back this has gone from being %10 ABV with a real malt kick to being , dare i say it, weaker overall.

red to amber color, thinnish head, medium level of carbonation. nose has some malts, a little dried fruit presence and a certain sweetness that could later be attributed to the alcohol content. taste is predominantly sweet, with some smooth malts, and a raisiny flavor with some zesty aspects. a little thin in body, its got a decent hop presence that is slightly bitter and floral. the beer is pretty well balanced overall but seems to be too reserved for a beer of this strength. particularly as i know this used to be closer to the mark.

certainly not a bad beer, but can do a lot more than it does. gives a nice warm glow as youd expect, but just lacking in the mouth to be totally world class.