Twelve beers of Christmas: #8

It's been a lovely lazy Saturday. Forest beat Man City, there's toad in the hole for tea and I'm sat planning my first country walk of the year whilst enjoying a glass of Hopshackle Restoration.


My first experience of this beer was at Peterborough CAMRA festival in 2008. And damn impressive it was - bags of spiced alcohol, leather, pepper and chocolate. More impressive was that this was an English brewer taking on a Belgian style and investing enough time and care to make a wonderfully complex and satisfying beer.

When I was offered the chance to buy a case of this year's brew, I jumped at the chance. Restoration is brewed annually around February/March and then aged for six months before bottling. My bottle was quite feisty, a blossoming head thinning quickly to a drumskin-tight mushroom cover. There's a rich sugary aroma, vineous notes and crushed plums fighting past a peppery edge. Just enough carbonation delivers a soft feel with stacks of fresh malts and warming alcohol.

This was delectably easy to drink. A proper sit-by-the-fire and chill-out beer. So super soft, simply spun-sugar sweet. As good as this is now, I can't wait to try one during Christmas 2009 to see how those flavours may change.