Beer Bear does Old Bear

I stumbled across this brewery by accident...well sort of accident anyway. It started when I was thinking about how there are hardly any double IPAs brewed in Britian, with the notable exceptions of BrewDog's Hardcore IPA and Moor's JJJ IPA of course (you could add BrewDog's Zephyr, however bottles of this are so hard to come by now, there has been a notable rise in gun crimes at major beer festivals, with last months GABF seeing over 200 wounded and 14 unsuccessful hostage situations...apparently it's quite a good beer). Then I had a look on ratebeer.com and came across the oddly named Duke Of Bronte Capstan F.S. from the Old Bear Brewery in Yorkshire, a potent 12.5% double IPA.

Not being able to find a bottle of Duke anywhere, I contacted the brewery and bought it from them direct, with a few others from their interesting range. Their website has a shop but you can only buy cases of the beers online (and Duke isn't on there at all), however, if you talk to them they are more than happy to send any beers in whatever amount you desire. You can also get them from Hi-spirits, and I am reliably informed that you can get their stuff on cask at the Foresters Arms in Grassington, and the Thornhill Arms in Stanningley.


Ok, so the brewery is based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, the same town as the awesome Timothy Taylor, and has been knocking out beer since 1993. I could spend a few paragraphs taking you through the history of the brewery but their website says it all and I want to get onto the beer!

I'll start with Estivator, a 3.8% light golden ale, that looks suspiciously like a pint of lemon juice when the head has subsided. It has quite a light wheaty nose, with lots of citrus, and the faint aroma of yeast. There is an unexpected smokiness to the flavours, like the peaty taste in a single malt whisky (I know, it's an odd characteristic for a light golden ale but it really does taste peaty), sitting alongside a light hoppy lemon. All in all it is a nice light summer beer, with a unique and strangely enjoyable taste.

Hibernator is a strong bitter, which weighs in at 5%, and pours almost as dark as a stout, and sports a similar slight tan head. It has a massively malty nose, with chocolates and coffees, and again, lots of smoke. The flavours are bitter and similar to the nose in the chocolate and coffee stakes, with an added sweet nuttiness. This is a brilliant beer, I recommend it highly.

Next, Black Mari'a is 4.2%, and is a headless pitch black, flat-coke-looking, stout with split personality disorder. It has some amazing aromas, lots of roasted malts, burnt liquorish, nuts, and a massive hit of espresso. However, the taste is not what you would expect; it has a sharp sour citric lemon flavour, very small hints of wood, and the aftertaste has a barely noticeable coffee note but the flavours are predominantly lemony. The aroma and the taste feel like they come from completely different beers, very very weird.

Finally, the one that started it, Duke Of Bronte Capstan F.S., pours with a deep amber colour, and a creamy off-white head. There are lots of sharp fruits, and rich barley, alongside a slightly resiny bitter hoppiness on the nose. The taste is sweet at first with barley and lots of fruit (apple and peach), a slight cinnamon spiciness and a clean hit of yeast. The finish begins to offer up the bitterness, and hops I was expecting. This is not a double IPA as I know them, it is more like a hybrid between a rich fruity barley wine and a double IPA at the weaker end of the IBU. One thing is for sure though, this is a scarily complex beer with more going on than I am capable of describing, so, my advice is to watch the always entertaining Zak Avery's V-blog on the beer (he describes it as an English triple), or alternatively get your hands on a bottle for yourself.

All in all, Old Bear are kicking out some really good beers, particularly Hibernator and Duke, so lets hope they manage to reach beyond the realms of Yorkshire and others get to experience them.