I had a pint of Exmoor Beast on Saturday. A 6.6% porter it cost me £2.63 in one the Cardiff Wetherspoons.
Beast is on the current Spoons guest ale list and is the strongest one on it.
It must be around 20 years since I’d had a pint of it. It was a favourite beer of my late father who died in 2005. He liked strong beers as he didn’t drink in quantity. The drinking was done in the Tollgate, Turnpike Lane. It’s no longer a Spoons though still open as a pub.
Beast was first brewed in 1993 (see Des De Moor’s 2009 commentary below) and although 6.6% might not seem overly strong in the days of DIPAs and imperial stouts then it was regarded as very strong. It was only to be found in Spoons, in London anyway. In those pre-craft days Spoons was by far the best bet if you wanted a cask beer (no craft keg then) that wasnt Big Beer produced.
Anyway my expectations were low. I really tried it for old times sake and I suppose in memory of my father.
To my surprise it was a very enjoyable pint. Highly drinkable with flavours of liquorice and chocolate.
I wonder if Exmoor are planning a Big Beast?
Leave a Reply