Since the arrival of its US brewmaster, Moor Beer Co has taken an extra step toward improving the quality and flavour of its ales.

Moor is one of the most vocal advocates of unfined and unfiltered brewing in the country. Eschewing finings, additives designed to clear the beer, means that its ales are vegetarian and vegan-friendly in cask, bottle, and keg, while retaining a beautiful natural haze, fuller body, and a depth of flavour that is hard to preserve once any finings are added.

It is a simple, and effective, message: cloudy beer is real ale in its best condition. There’s a wealth of explanatory information on the company’s website that helps clear the issue up, so head to moorbeer.co.uk/unfinedbeer for the full rundown.

Revival is the brewery’s pale bitter pouring. Unsurprisingly, it gives a hazy tangerine hue with a loose dollop of white head. The aroma is delicate and fleeting, giving up wet leaves, cut green apples, and a beguiling hint of warm rice pudding.


The flavour is light and gentle at first, smooth pears and white grapes give way to a white-grape note that cuts through a beautiful vanilla custard, topped off with freshly cut flowers. The body lies at the fuller end of moderate; it is weighty and substantial in the mouth, and yet a substantial hop bitterness kicks in, preventing it becoming cloying. The finish is dry and herbal, leaving a lingering bitter tingle on the tongue.

Complex and drinkable, this is session beer as it should be.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, 48 Stonegate, York

The Wild Beer Co recently appeared from the depths of Somerset (Shepton Mallet to be precise) amid promises of flavour-forward, unique beers different to the escalating series of hop-bombs brewed by their craft-brewing peers.

Making changes to other parts of the process, and using unconventional ingredients in unconventional ways, has seen them make good on this promise: apple-infused saisons, spelt beers, and oaked old ales are de rigueur for this brewery, not the domain of expensive limited edition brews.

Solera is a child of this latter process, influenced by and named for the process of aging and fractional blending by which each batch is made: barrels of aged beer are blended with the new product to create a consistent flavour, with fresh beer rejuvenating the older stocks. The aim is to create a unique beer that has the complexity of aged beer with the delicacy of fresh beer remaining intact.

Pouring a cloudy, deep amber, the nose offers lemons, cloves, damp wood and a hint of bubblegum. The flavour begins with a sharp lemon acidity, suggestive of older, soured ale, backed with a sharp sap and dry wood flavour. The body is fairly thick and yet the beer remains dry on the palate, with a refreshing astringent finish broken up by strong carbonation. Undeniably complex, this is certainly a unique beer with a character all of its own.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York

Siren Craft Brewing is just over a year old but is already making some serious waves in the capital, where it is based. Alongside its core range of pale, hoppy, beers and this beer (its stout) it bottles the odd special too.

Its specials are something to behold too (if you can catch them before they sell out) from a Limoncello-inspired sour IPA, through an imperial stout aged on Buckfast-infused oak, right down to the mealworm beer brewed for the Nordic Food Labs.

It's not all for shock and awe however, with all of its offerings demonstrating the perfect balance between eccentricity and drinkability: in other words, they're always delicious.

This coffee and chocolate infused stout pours a deep, enticing Labrador brown with russet highlights underneath a ring of butterscotch head.

The aroma is delightful - rich lashings of chocolate sauce with a subtle underlying smoke and an edge of roasted, astringent coffee adding a wonderful fruity note.

It has a rich, silky mouthfeel with a very light carbonation. The flavour is unbelievably smooth. Sweet spotted-dick and tea cakes broaden out into an expansive coffee and chocolate palate-soaking delight.

This becomes deeper and darker, enriched by a flourish of smoked malt and the slightest of hop bitterness. The finish is oily, lingering on the tongue for what seems like a very happy age, scattering dusty cocoa powder around the palate for minutes after every sip.

• Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, 48 Stonegate, York, YO1 8AS @tremblingmad

WHILE our German friends are done donning their dirndls and lounging in their lederhosen for another year, I thought it only appropriate we considered a beer from a German brewery new to us at the Trembling Madness.

Mittenwald is a Bavarian brewery that insists on using only local ingredients – malt from the surrounding farmlands, and the finest hops from Hallertau, infusing each into crisp spring water rich with minerals that give the beer an unmatched delicacy and crispness. The brewer also lays claim to the title of “highest private brewery in Germany”, although the effect of that on the finished product is questionable; it’s a nice piece of trivia, regardless.

This week’s beer is from the brewery’s core range, and is their dunkel, ‘Jager’. A wonderful chestnut beer with bright copper highlights, the head is a flash-in-the-pan of butterscotch foam that quickly disappears. The aroma is rich liquorice and butterscotch, with a waft of raw barley providing the background for delicate banana and walnut phenolics.


Rich and smooth, Jager is moderate-to-full bodied with a zesty, bright carbonation that enhances its drinkability, helped along by a crisp, refreshing finish. Malt leads here; toffee apple with a hint of hazelnuts gives way to a sudden onrush of crisp lemon-zest and herbaceous noble-hops in the finish. Truly the best of both worlds, this dunkel is substantial, complex, and eminently drinkable – a wonderful autumnal beer.

• Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, 48 Stonegate, York, YO1 8AS @tremblingmad