Head over to Rattle N Hum for the following beers that will be available on cask until they are kicked. Special thanks to Alex Hall for putting together this lineup:
Coniston Old Man Ale – 4.8% – Ruby red, complex ale with fruity aroma. On the palate there’s some caramel, toffee, and dark fruit. Challenger hops impart a clean grassiness with a hint of earth and epice. Recently came in 2nd out of 25 at the New York Times English ale tasting.
Dark Star Hophead – 3.8% – An extremely clean drinking, full bodied, pale gold session ale with a strong floral aroma and elderflower notes. There’s a clean and refreshing hoppiness on the palate. This beer has won many awards at CAMRA beer festivals in the U.K.
Dark Star Best Bitter – 4.0% – This dark amber session bitter is silky with hints of fruit, smooth and enticing on the palate. Hopped with East Kent Goldings.
Dark Star Festival – 5.0% – A chestnut coloured premium Sussex brew with a strong malt backbone and a sweet malt mouthfeel. This beer bears a striking to ‘Festive,’ a formerly Sussex favourite premium cask ale brewed by the now closed King & Barned Brewery.
Dark Star Original – 5.0% – Dark, strong, and smooth with a nice level of bitterness. This recipe is a former 1980s Champion Beer of Britain winner in a previous incarnation – as a beer called ‘Dark Star’ from Pitfield Brewery, devised there by Dark Star Brewery’s founer Rob Jones.
Dark Star Porter – 5.5% – Brown and black malts combine with Target hops in the boil for a luscious, dark, slick, traditional English porter experience.
Greene King Old Speckled Hen – 4.5% – The only real beer from a big brewery (Greene King is a national U.K. brewer). Smooth, malty, fruity, amber ale with a short finish. Rare on cask here, you should find this has much more depth than the ubiquitious nitro-poured version of Old Speckled Hen.
Ridgeway Seriously Bad Elf – 9% – Described as an English Double Ale, this turbid, potent strong brew has a pleasantly spicy hop profile.
Ridgeway Criminally Bad Elf – 10.5% – A sweetish, very strong winter barleywine with notes of fruit and a warming complexity on the palate.