Payback Porter

The Speakeasy Brewery in San Francisco make some great beers, Prohibition Ale being one of my favourite beers of all time. I had never tried their porter and so when I spotted an enticing* 650ml bottle I just had to give it a go.


A winter warmer, definitely
worth picking up.

The beer pours a jet black with a thin tan head. Very interesting aroma; raisons and cloves are very apparent with a warming alcohol in the background. There is also the vaguest hint of North Western hops fighting to be recognised. This beer has a very complex flavour, the raisons and cloves come through strongly in what is a very treacly body. All of this is wrapped in a very boozy flavour (7.2% ABV). Although this is a big bodied beer it has a surprisingly smooth and clean mouthfeel (the treacle effect doesn't last). As this beer warms up the booziness fades and the complexity of the flavours intensifies.

This is certainly a winter warmer, at 7.2% and coming in a 650ml bottle, it is a beer that can be happily sipped over a couple of hours. Definitely worth picking up a bottle if you come across it.

* enticing in more ways than one, yes the 650ml bottle is something I really like, but the other thing is that the labels for the Speakeasy beers are so striking. Harking back to the prohibition days in America they scream of gangsters and dames and are represented in a striking art deco style.

Beer Review: Prohibition Ale

A couple of months ago I remember a night in the Bull & Castle consuming copious amounts of prohibition ale on draught, I thought it was a fantastic beer but needless to say the next morning I wished it had not tasted as nice. When I spotted some bottles of Speakeasy's Prohibition Ale in the off-licence I had to pick up a few.

A truly stunning beer.

The beer pours a dark amber colour with a thick off white head. It possesses one of the nicest aromas I have ever experienced, sharp sweetness from the malt is reminiscent of sticky toffee. This is balanced by a lovely citrus grapefruit hop hit. The taste is just fabulous; caramel, toffee and cinnamon are all present, all backed up by a fantastic amount of late kettle hops. Not really a session beer at 6.1% but one you could really enjoy two or three bottles of.

This is truly a stunning beer, an American Amber Ale that ticks all the boxes and one of the best beers I have ever tasted. If you ever see this in bottle, grab as much as you can!

Beer Review: Big Daddy IPA

I have had the pleasure of trying a few beers from the Speakeasy Brewery in San Francisco, both in bottle and on keg, however two beers that I had never tried were their Big Daddy IPA and their Payback Porter, both of which I managed to pick up recently in Drinkstore. The great thing about these two beers is that they come in 650ml bottles, a great size in my opinion.

Big Daddy IPA: you've got to
love the label design.

The IPA pours a light golden colour with a large white fluffy head. Nice strong hop aroma, predominantly citrus with a hint of pine. Low to medium bodied with a nice low level of carbonation. The flavour is all about the hops, citrussy up front, smooth in the middle and a high level of bitterness on the end, finishes very dry making you want to reach for that next sip before the glass has touched the table. Quite strong at 6.5% and this comes across as a slight booziness in the taste.

I like the fact that the hop profile of this beer is quite complex, although it has that traditional citrus hop aroma, the taste it is more multidimensional than that. The citrus is certainly there but it is joined by earthy and piney characteristics. A very nice beer, nothing outstanding, but definitely worth picking up a bottle.

I'll report back soon on the Porter, but if the IPA is anything to go by I know it's going to be good.