Hello and welcome back to the Eternal Hoptimists,
Those who know me know that I have quite a photographic memory when it comes to remembering beers and pubs, in particular if I have ever drunk a beer I can more often than not remember where. Well, on a cold December evening I had been on a local CAMRA branch trip to Huddersfield when we entered our final pub of the trip, the excellent Sportsman. We took our seats by the welcoming open fire and as I approached the bar for drinks for my wife and I, something on the bar caught my eye…..a peanut butter and banana porter by a pretty new brewery to me at the time, Wilde Child.
So, I got our drinks plus a half of this out of curiosity, the wife and I absolutely loved it whereas several CAMRA traditionalists wouldn’t even entertain the prospect! Since then, I always get excited to come across beers from Wilde Child but up until now that peanut butter and banana porter (Siege of Khartoum) has evaded me. So, when we got to choose our beers to review, I instantly grabbed this one just to see if it is as good as I remember or was it just the perfect beer to suit the time of year and surroundings.
1. Name : Siege of Khartoum
2. Brewery: Wilde Child, Leeds
3. Hops : Not specified
4. Grain : Barley, Oats & Yeast
5. Aroma : Initial aroma is banana which is subtle rather than overpowering. This is followed by the peanut butter in the background that becomes more evident the longer the aroma is inhaled.
6. Appearance : Pours black with light bleed evident, and a dissipating one finger tan coloured head. Once settled in the glass this has the appearance more of a cola than a beer.
7. Body : Medium to full body with a pleasant full mouthfeel
8. Taste : In contrast to the aroma, the first thing that I picked up on the palate was peanut butter with the banana coming towards the end. These flavours work well together and are more subtle than I expected.
9. Allergens: Contains Lactose and Dextrose
Over five and a half years since I last had Siege Of Khartoum and after all of these years I still enjoyed the beer overall. However, it was not as great as I remembered from that evening in Huddersfield. Whether the beer has had subtle changes over time, was just the right beer at the right time or whether it is just better as a cask beer, it just did not have as much of a wow factor as I was hoping for.
The beer has a decent aroma and flavour profile with a pretty good balance of peanut butter and banana flavours reminiscent of the foam banana sweets on the palate but perhaps these will prove to be a bit too subtle for some. For me, the subtleness of the flavour profile helped this along and made this a decent, (if not groundbreaking) porter.
Overall, I have to be honest in saying that it is not Wilde Child’s greatest beer but is one that is worth trying. I am pretty certain that you would enjoy Siege Of Khartoum, just don’t expect to be blown away by it.
Mark’s overall rating: 3.1/ 5.0
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