REVIEW #39: Export Stout 1890 (The Kernel Brewery)

Pours jet black with a gorgeous rust coloured head that quickly dissipates to a ring around the glass. It has a melted chocolate and Brazil nut fragrance. Initially creamy vanilla notes mix with textured biscuit and nuts. Treacle toffee and resinous, tarry flavours develop in the mouth as does a hint of blackberry. These in turn pre-empt deeper charred wood notes which coat the back of the mouth in an astringent finish. Needless to say the beer is full bodied and pleasingly warming.

As its name reveals, this beer is based on a recipe dating from 1890, originally crafted by Truman's. Truman's being a brewery no longer with us but which was one of the most renowned brewery's of fin de siècle London. The Kernal Brewery, in contrast, are very much alive and kicking. I'm all in favour of resuscitating beers lost to the mists of time, especially porters and stouts, so I think the craftspeople at Kernal deserve extra acclaim for that. They are a modern London brewery, and a component of the London Brewer's Alliance along with Redemption, Brodies and Windsor & Eton breweries. Kernal specialise in two polar opposite styles; pale ales/IPAs and porters/stouts, producing many different versions of both. If Export Stout 1890 is anything to go by, they are worth seeking out. Its a beer that has previously won two Gold awards at the SIBA South East Beer Festival.

• MALTS: ? 

• HOPS: ?
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 7.1%`
• BOTTLE-CONDITIONED

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