Hockley Valley Brewing Company part two of two

Hockley Valley Brewing Company www.hockleybeer.ca

So earlier this week we tried Hockley Valley's Black and Tan, Tonight's two beers make up the black and tan components of the previous beer. The first beer, the tan, is Hockley Valley Dark. The second, The Stout, is the black. As I said earlier these beers would be mixed in whatever proprietary blend they have at the brewery  and canned before being shipped out. Also I said it doesn't actually count as a black and tan... but feel free to read that part for yourself...here.

Beer # 25

Hockley Valley Dark, Traditional English Ale.

Traditonal English Ale is a bit of a misnomer as there are as many different ales as there are brewers in the history of British zymurgy. Our offering blurs the lines even more as it is a cross between a Northern brown ale (think Newcastle Brown) and a mild ale (think Tetley's).  Chestnut-red in colour with an off-white head of large bubbles. 5% ABV in a 473 ml can. First sniff gives us yeast, barley, fruit, with milky and brandy notes. Taking a sip we get earthy grainy, palm sugars, nuts, chocolate, and a finish of raisin and black tea. There is a slight hint of metal presumably from the can.

Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Pass
Cost: Pass ($7.95 for three cans $2.65 a can)
Colour: Pass
Beer Style: So-so
Re-order: So-so
Experience: Pass

Beer # 26

Hockley Valley Traditional Irish Stout
Irish or "dry" Stouts are best noted for coffee and toast aromas. Tonight's offering certainly has that in spades. A 473 ml Tallboy can with 4.2% ABV. Dark brown to black in colour with a light brown head with small bubbles. In the first taste we get bitter and sweet smoke from the nose, chocolate and coffee. The taste is all ashes and smoke of a hardwood charcoal fire. Some sweetness and silkiness toward the end, very light. Aeration gives us a leathery, chocolate, and cold coffee bitterness.

Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Pass
Cost: Pass ($7.95 for three cans $2.65 a can)
Colour: Pass
Beer Style: Pass
Re-order: So-so
Experience: Pass

Final thoughts... here is one of the rare times where the product is greater than the sum of it's parts. I'm reminded of the venerable old TV show "Red Dwarf." Lister makes Rimmer a Triple egg, chili, chutney sandwich. and Rimmer claims: "... It's all wrong, the fried egg: wrong. The chutney: wrong. The chili sauce: all wrong. But put them together and it works. Somehow it becomes right." That sums up my thoughts on these three offerings from Hockley The Stout is too bitter, and the Dark is too mild and althought none of them conform exactly to the right definitions for the beer types they claim they are; the "Black and Tan" smooths out the faults of the other two beers. In the end it just works. Granted none of these are high on my re-order list, but they all have merit and I'm sure many people will discover them to be their favourite beers. Good... if you always agreed with me we would have nothing to talk about!





Stay tuned tomorrow I am reviewing Hacker-Pshorr!

Cheers
CJT