I got to know Colin Stronge when he was brewing at Black Isle and this little bottle of beauty contains a beer brewed to celebrate him taking the position of Brewer at Buxton Brewery.
And oh boy, it’s good.
Pouring thick and black as pitch with a head so dark it’s almost orange, the smell is a damp cardboard box full of rum and raisins and dark chocolate.
Stronge Extra Stout is a big beer, feeling thick on your tongue as you take a sip you have to give in to the super dry bitter chocolate, black coffee and damson skins.
Everything is intense, three dimensional, full of edgy excitement.
So it’s a bit like Colin then.
Mouthy, bold, big and great fun, this little bottle of stout growls through autumnal red crunchy leaf litter and winks as it makes your head spin.
Colin, dude, this is a great beer, and you know I’d tell you if it wasn’t.

Source: Cotteridge Wines