Thursday 9 August 2012

[BOTTLE REVIEW] Wooden Hand - Black Pearl



Pirate themed stout? Yes please.

On a recent trip away from the big smoke to Cornwall, I managed to procure a bottle of Black Pearl from the Wooden Hand brewery. Based in the tiny city of Truro (the same place as Skinner's), Wooden Hand produce high quality ales, that are pirate themed, in keeping with Cornwall's rich pirating history. They are however, unfortunately, hard to come by in London.

Black Pearl is the brewery's stout. Coming in at 4.5%, it pours out with a nice coffee coloured head. To taste, it avoids being too claggy and heavy, and actually has a nice hoppy bite, more so than your average stout. This is however rounded off with a warm nutty body. With the aftertaste, there is more hoppyness and an endearing dark chocolate quality, completed with a coffeesque dry finish. It is undoubtedly a great stout, which I enjoyed despite the handicap of the searing Cornwall sunshine (which would normally put you off a darker beer, no?). If you ever come across it, buy it, I promise you won't regret it.

On a side note, I've been lucky enough to try all of the Wooden Hand beers, and they are all great. Buy on sight, seriously, as you won't catch them in London all that often (for the moment anyway).