Black Sunday - February 14th, 2010

[grub]

I was disappointed by the beers I tried. The Hockley Hole Mole was just chocolate and nothing else. The Mill Street Chocolate Imperial Stout reeked of vomit. Makes diacetyl seem great.

did you have them today? there was certainly none of that in the mill street on sunday, and the other beers we tried were tasty.

[wilco]

I was disappointed by the beers I tried. The Hockley Hole Mole was just chocolate and nothing else. The Mill Street Chocolate Imperial Stout reeked of vomit. Makes diacetyl seem great.

did you have them today? there was certainly none of that in the mill street on sunday, and the other beers we tried were tasty.

Nope, this was Sunday.

[midlife crisis]

I had it on Sunday as well. It certainly had a "chocolate adjunct"-type nose to me, but it didn't strike me as vomit in any way. All in all another very interesting event that we should feel lucky to have, IMO, even if some of the experimental or one-off casks don't quite measure up. My brief thoughts on the ones I've tried:

Durham Black Eye - outstanding

Mill St Choc Imperial - too much sweet chocolate, not to my taste

Grand River Mild - had an unusual minty flavour somehow, not their best effort

Black Oak Nutcracker - sublime, as always

Cheshire Valley Stout - very good and moreish


BTW, many of the beers are still available and I understand there are even a few more to come.

[SteelbackGuy]

Cheshire Valley Stout - very good and moreish

I've seen this "moreish" term used fairly often recently, and I must say I have no idea what it means. Care to explain?

[icemachine]

Cheshire Valley Stout - very good and moreish

I've seen this "moreish" term used fairly often recently, and I must say I have no idea what it means. Care to explain?

Its a synonym to Quaffable

[GregClow]

Cheshire Valley Stout - very good and moreish

The Cheshire Valley beer was Paul's Robust Porter, not his Dry Stout.

Volo had originally listed it on the board as the Dry Stout, but it was corrected early in the day - or partially corrected, rather, as it was then listed as "Dry Porter".

Style aside - agreed that it was very good.

[SteelbackGuy]

Cheshire Valley Stout - very good and moreish

I've seen this "moreish" term used fairly often recently, and I must say I have no idea what it means. Care to explain?

Its a synonym to Quaffable

Ahhh. Got it. Thanks.

[TJ]

Its a synonym to Quaffable

I think addictive might be closer to the mark. Moreish means just what it sounds like. Something that you want more of. Quaffable is more along the lines of drinkability. Easy to drink, but not necessarily something you're compelled to drink more and more of.

[Torontoblue]

Grand River Mild - had an unusual minty flavour somehow, not their best effort

The last time it tasted 'weird' was during the yeast infection and refrigeration problems; I hope those problems haven't resurfaced?

[Mr. Lou Pepe]

I was disappointed by the beers I tried. The Hockley Hole Mole was just chocolate and nothing else. The Mill Street Chocolate Imperial Stout reeked of vomit. Makes diacetyl seem great.

I may agree with you about the Hockey's Hole Mole, but to say the imperial tasted like vomit, is just wrong. I attended the Sunday afternoon, I found the Mill St imperial to be quite nice, heavy on the chocolate though.

Overall, it is good to see bars promoting more cask events, especially with one-offs Props to Volo for hosting another great cask event!

[JerCraigs]

I actually found the Hole Mole kind of spicy - was I completely imagining things?

[Sanchex]

i second the disgusting aroma on the mill street stout. once you got past that it actually tasted okay. as for the hockley stout, they probably brewed it with ancho or chipotle peppers which combined with the chocolate notes of the stout make it taste kind like a mole sauce... hence hole mole. personally, i really enjoyed this beer.

[wilco]

I was disappointed by the beers I tried. The Hockley Hole Mole was just chocolate and nothing else. The Mill Street Chocolate Imperial Stout reeked of vomit. Makes diacetyl seem great.

I may agree with you about the Hockey's Hole Mole, but to say the imperial tasted like vomit, is just wrong. I attended the Sunday afternoon, I found the Mill St imperial to be quite nice, heavy on the chocolate though.

Overall, it is good to see bars promoting more cask events, especially with one-offs Props to Volo for hosting another great cask event!

By reeked, I was talking about aroma not taste. My girlfriend and I both thought so. She couldn't take more than one sip. All I can do is call 'em as I smell 'em, though I will go to the brewpub soon to try it again.

I do second the praise to Volo and the brewers. The extra effort they make for these events is much appreciated!

[midlife crisis]

The Cheshire Valley beer was Paul's Robust Porter, not his Dry Stout.

No, I am referring to a second cask that went on Tuesday, which I understand was the stout.

[TwoPint]

When I was there on Sunday, the porter was the only Cheshire beer available. Early Monday, both the porter and the stout were on the board and the server confirmed that both were on.

I wasn't crazy about the porter but the stout was quite nice.