Hop, Clip, & Pump

Some beers arrive quietly. Others arrive with a sense of decadence before you’ve even lifted the glass. Snowball from Waen Brewery firmly belongs to the latter. The Beer: Dessert Disguised as a Stout At 7.0% ABV , Snowball sits comfortably in that rich, warming territory where stout begins to blur into indulgence. But this is no ordinary stout. Brewed with chocolate, vanilla, and coconut , Snowball leans unapologetically into dessert territory, more akin to a liquid confection than a traditional dark ale. Think of it less as a pint and more as an experience: Chocolate provides depth and familiarity Vanilla smoothing and sweetening the body Coconut lifting everything with a soft, exotic edge There’s even a lingering suggestion, depending on interpretation, of that nostalgic winter drink, the 'snowball' cocktail, with its creamy, slightly festive character. The Brewery: Innovation from Mid Wales Waen Brewery was founded in 2009 by Sue Hayward and John Marti...

Some beers behave exactly as expected, and then there are beers like Pica Porter , which seem to delight in unsettling those expectations from the very first glance. Discovered in a local micropub and already causing a quiet stir at the bar, this is a porter that refuses to conform. Labelled as dark, yet pouring brown. Promising weight, yet delivering something lighter. Carrying the stylistic name of porter, but laced with an unexpectedly assertive hop character. It is, in every sense, a contradiction worth exploring. First Encounter: A Porter That Doesn’t Quite Look the Part Visually, Pica Porter challenges the drinker immediately. Rather than the deep, opaque blackness one might expect, it presents as a chestnut brown, clearer, lighter, and subtly at odds with porter tradition. The body follows suit. It is thinner than many modern porters, lacking the heavy viscosity often associated with the style. Yet this is not a weakness; it feels intentional, part of a broader rethinkin...

There are moments in the pub when anticipation hangs in the air, that flicker of excitement when a new pump clip appears on the bar. You lean in, squint at the design, maybe exchange a hopeful glance with the regulars. This time, it was a paper-thin laminated effort, slightly rough around the edges. Not unusual. In fact, sometimes those modest, homemade-looking clips signal something special, a hidden gem from a small, passionate brewery. Sadly, this was not one of those times. First Impressions: Hope and Hesitation At first pour, there was curiosity. Maybe even optimism. The kind that makes you think, this could be a sleeper hit . But one sip in, and the mood shifted. The collective verdict, reached somewhere between raised eyebrows and puzzled frowns? Pernod. Not a subtle hint. Not a whisper of complexity. Just a full-on, unmistakable wave of aniseed crashing over the palate. The Taste Test: Aniseed Overload Now, aniseed has its place. In the right context, it can add intrig...

There’s something immediately striking about this one. A smoked porter, packaged with imagery of British Rail porters crammed into a sardine tin , feels like a playful nod to history, though perhaps not the history you would first expect. After all, porter as a style owes its name not to railway workers, but to the street and river porters of 18th-century London , particularly those working in places like Billingsgate Market. So why the visual shift? Perhaps because this is not a London porter. This is a Sheffield interpretation, one that feels comfortable reworking tradition with a touch of humour and local identity. Porter: A Style with Working Roots Porter is one of the great historic beer styles. First emerging in 18th-century London, it became popular among labourers, particularly porters, who valued its robust, nourishing character . Brewed with dark malts, it offered depth, body, and a satisfying richness that made it ideal for long working days. Over time, the line betwe...