Tasting Notes: Howard Town Dark Peak
Brewery: Howard Town
Location: Glossop, Derbyshire
ABV: 6.4%
Version: Draught
Source: The Angel, Manchester
After a Saturday afternoon mooching around Manchester City Centre, Jo and I decided that food followed by a couple of pints was definitely in order. First we swung by the Micro Bar in the Arndale Market, looking for a few bottles of Dunham Massey Stout to take home with us, but struck out (although I did pick up a bottle of BrewDog Physics and a 2009 Dark Star Imperial Stout for the special cupboard), and seeing as they had their Boggart Rum Porter on draught we thought we'd give that a go. I tried the bottled version a while ago and whilst the carbonation I'd noticed back then wasn't a problem with the draught version - which had a lovely, creamy mouth-feel - it was probably just a bit too tiramisu-sugary-sweet. I downed my half happily enough, but Jo couldn't bring herself to finish hers (so I did the gentlemanly thing and helped out, as you do). After that we queued for Far Eastern Fusion food in Tampopo and then headed off in search of a post-Nasi Goreng / Pad Thai pint.
We tried the Wellington - which was showing some definite promise, with Sharp's Doom Bar on draught - but it was absolutely hammered with post-match Manchester United fans celebrating their 3-0 victory over Burnley and as I was lugging a couple of fairly hefty bags around, we thought we'd better try again. So we aimed for the Crown & Kettle at the top end of Oldham Street, but it was packed out as well; Manchester City fans this time, watching their team getting beaten 2-0 by Everton. [Oh, just for the record I'm a neutral there: I support Bury FC and we'd already recorded a 2-1 win away at Bournemouth, so I was already quite happy, thank you very much.]
This put us up in Marble Arch territory, but we weren't sure if we'd get somewhere to sit and stow our bags on a Saturday afternoon, so we thought we'd give the under-new-management Angel a go instead. And we were very glad we did, because nestled in amongst a selection of four pale and / or golden ales was one highly likely-looking winter warmer: Howard Town Dark Peak. Jo and I both tried it and we both thought it was bloody marvellous.
You know how, every so often, you try a new brew and there's that moment when with the very first sip your tastebuds scream "yes!" and you just know you're going to be enjoying this one right down to the bottom of the glass? Dark Peak was one of those ales. It poured a beautiful dark ruby chestnut with a healthy head and was packed with flavour: rich, dark berries, chewy raisins, just a hint of toffee and burnt sugar. Sweet but not too sweet. Easy-drinking but not a quaffer; Jo and I were both aware we were drinking a 6.4% strong ale - the alcohol content was noticeable by its warmth, but was by no means harsh or intrusive - so we sipped accordingly. Although to be honest it wasn't one we would have wanted to rush anyway. Howard Town Dark Peak is definitely an ale to savour and enjoy at leisure (and the same again afterwards, thank you very much, and have one for yourself as well). Lovely stuff. Highly recommended.
[A note for any Manchester-locals wondering whether the new Angel is worth a visit: they've got Williams Bros Midnight Sun due in next weekend, as well as a selection of brews from Simpson & Simpson (Brown Cow?) in Selby. And the new food menu looks very interesting - a selection of game-birds (whole mallard, anyone?) and assorted traditional English dishes, with portion-sizes that didn't look too stingy at all. Could be well worth a visit at the weekend...]
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