Black Rock
Tudor Brewery

I know how patriotic the Welsh can be, and this beer is Welsh, but the Style of it is a Porter, which is English having historically originated in London; hence Style: English Porter.
L- Pour carefully, it's bottle-conditioned and I wasn't quite prepared for how eagerly the head formed. I've slowly poured about 350ml and it has a fat 6cm fine-bubble mid-tan head projecting about 1cm+ above the top of the pint glass... and 5 mins later it has not reduced by 1mm! That's unusual and impressive. Held up to a halogen light it is a super-deep ruby/chestnut.
S- Some toastyness and rich malty caramel notes.
T- Toasted grains, some malts and then prominent smokey coffee notes come in.
F- Beautiful thick creamy head, the most impressive foam head I've seen in say a year+ I think the quite pungent taste if anything part masks the 5.6% ABV, as blind tasted I'd guess this as about 4.8-5%.
O- Nothing to note out of place or balance which is further encouraging. I'm not a born drinker of black beers but I like this, it shows how a really good one can be appreciated by the yet to be converted. It's extremely good ... I Google the brewery... and it's a micro-brewery operating from a unit on an industrial estate, wow, haha! Wikipedia says: 'In 2016, the company's Black Rock Ale won the CAMRA award for Champion Beer of Wales'. So there you have it, and I'm comforted that it's not just me that found something rather special in this beer.
With an inch of beer left in the glass, there is still 1Cm of foam on top, plus some lacing down the sides of the glass. All in all this is a very impressive beer and worth seeking out if in Cardiff or near the brewery.
500ml bottle. £2.75 Bought for me by my wife whilst on a w/e trip to Wales, from Wally's beer shop in Cardiff. BB: June 2020