Hambleton Nightmare
Cask conditioned; bottle: cold filtered.
This is an extra stout porter. Unlike many stouts, Nightmare is not harsh or overly bitter. A smooth, massively flavoured creamy drink, best served on the ’warm’ side, allowing full appreciation of this four malt brew. It was runner-up in the ’Stout and Porter’ class at the Great British Beer Festival 1994, Champion Beer at the SIBA (NORTH) Festival 1995 and CHAMPION WINTER BEER OF BRITAIN at the first Great British Winter Beer Festival in Glasgow 1997. Gold Award - ’Stout and Porter’ class SIBA (NORTH) Festival 1999 and 2003.
This is an extra stout porter. Unlike many stouts, Nightmare is not harsh or overly bitter. A smooth, massively flavoured creamy drink, best served on the ’warm’ side, allowing full appreciation of this four malt brew. It was runner-up in the ’Stout and Porter’ class at the Great British Beer Festival 1994, Champion Beer at the SIBA (NORTH) Festival 1995 and CHAMPION WINTER BEER OF BRITAIN at the first Great British Winter Beer Festival in Glasgow 1997. Gold Award - ’Stout and Porter’ class SIBA (NORTH) Festival 1999 and 2003.
3.5
341 reviews
Ripon, England
Community reviews
Keg @Cara B, Barcelona. 03-10-2015.
As "Nick Stafford´s Porter" (sic).
In short: straight british porter.
Pours dark brown with garnet reflections. Creamy light tan head. Short head retention, poor lacing. Roasty, caramel, licorice nose. Medium body, flat carbonation, oily texture. Taste is roasty, caramel, coffee.
Dark with slight red hue. Creamy, bubbly head off white. Coffee and brown sugar flavour, coconut, bitter chocolate - sweeter than most stouts. Not too bitter or cloying. Not overly boozy either , leaves a watery sweetness on the palate.
Cask HP at The Webb Ellis Twickenham. As ’Nick Stafford’s Hambleton Ales Nightmare Porter’, 5.0%. Cola black with a red hue, minimal tan head. Aroma is light, molasses, some burnt plastic. Body is smooth and oily with low carbonation. Taste is sweet molasses, some roast malt, plum, raisin. Too sweet for me up front but there is a building ashtray bitterness offsetting that. Definitely full flavoured but I find it a touch cloying. Couldn’t session it. A half was plenty.
Sampled on draught at The Mossy Well in Muswell Hill. Mahogany colour with a creamy head. Aroma of toffee and dark fruit. The taste is not quite as good as the nose, but the flavour is an appealing mix of fruit, toffee and chocolate. Only very mild bitterness, making this more like a lightish Scotch Ale than a porter. Not bad though.
500ml bottle. Dark reddish brown with a bubbly off white head. Aroma of chocolate and coffee. Taste is coffee, chocolate, vanilla with a fruity finish
Bottle from that shop in Malton.
Appearance - close to opaque brown but with red chinks.
Nose - toffee and dark fruit. Chocolate at the back. In fact almost coffee.
Taste - tiramisu with a little dark fruit hinted. Toffee too Molasses maybe.
Palate - mediumplus bodied with a creamy texture and a rich but balanced finish.
Overall - rich and enjoyable.
Reddish brown beer, clear round the edges, beige head. Light smell of coffee and fruit. Flavour is coffee and malt, somewhat bitter. There’s a bit of fruit buried in there as well but it’s mostly coffee. Pretty decent.
On tap at the Elm Tree, Durham. Nutty aroma. Creamy head. Black. Light body. Bitter finish.
Cask (Geldart, Cambridge) (7:4:7:4:14+=3.6+)
Aroma is cakey mocca and chocolate. Oooh, and tastes nice! Very dark with a few brown glints. Lovely toasty roasty taste. Palate has excellent quaffability. A lovely porter. Great roast but no harshness. Smooth, but full of flavour. Chocolatey but not sweet. They got everything just about right. Lovely.
light sweet burnt aroma,black, brown foam, light sweetness, lightly bitter, light body, oily feel, long finish,
Bottle shared by deyholla. Pours a dark black with minimal head. Nose is wonderful. Sweet and malty. Taste is a let down. Thin, scotchy? With some bitterness. Maybe coffee. Meh.
Bottle. Pours a clear dark brown with a slight amber hue and a light brown head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a good amount of sweet dark grains and toffee with a hint of roasted malts underlying. Flavor has lots of toffee with a bit of butterscotch, sweet dark grains and roasted malts underlying.
Cask at JDWs in Surbiton. Dark, roasted malt, toast, smoke, a little spice and fruit. Very drinkable with a smooth palate. Enjoyable beer.
Cask at the Pump House, Solihull. Poured a crystal clear dark brown with a frothy light tan head and some clingy lace. The aroma is light malt, over ripe fruit. The flavour is moderate bitter with a light, slightly watery, smoky roast, burnt toffee palate. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Pivo piji jako každý obyčejný člověk, mé komenty tedy nemaji takovou hodnotu jako u pivnich znalců. Pišu sem jen protože musim pro statistiku :D
Cask pint at The Henry Bell (JDW) in Helensburgh. Large off white head. Carmelly... Medium consistency.
Quite porter in style hint of viniger and liquerice on the nose tastes of treacle toffee and cinder toffee OK if a little thin and flat
Cask at the Moon under Water, deep dark mahogany with a beige head, looks more like old ale than stout. Treacle and faint spice on the nose, rich, dry-sweet with more treacle notes and a faint old ale tartness. Very nice and in excellent condition.
Bottle. Pour is black with a thin caramel frothy head, aroma is toffee, sweet, malty. Taste is coffee, earthy, gentle alcohol, some bitterness. Decent
Cask at the white lady. Pours dark brown, nose is roasted, light fruit, taste is chocolate, light roast.
Bottle. Dark Black with a red tint and a creamy light tan head. Smells of light roast, chocolate, malt, coffee and some hints of dry hops. A thin body this has. Tastes sweet and malty, with chocolate, and coffee and a dry strong bitter smoky finish. Some chocolate lingers in the aftermath. Expected more malt, so just ok.
From a bottle, aroma is subdued, but a decent flavour, with a light smoke and hop finish. Decent supermarket beer.
Not much aroma. Color reminds me of coffee. Flavor is on the lighter side. More like a brown ale. Malty and easy to drink. Nice beer.
Bottle from a shop in Upton on Severn. Colour iss dark brown with a thin tan head. Aroma is smoke and chocolate. Flavour is roasted malt, smoke and toast.
New at Liquor Shed.
It pours a very dark brown with some reddish highlights, about a 1" head of off white foam. Pretty good with the lacing.
It smells roast, with some dark chocolate, a bit of a fruity note or 2, and a hint of anise.
The taste follows the nose except the fruitiness isn’t as noticeable.
Smooth mouth feel thanks to the medium body and lightish carbonation. Last minute thought, I get a very very light smoke taste but perhaps I am wrong about that.
Super smooth and yet very tasty. I am impressed.
chocolate, coffee, roasty, mahogany colour clear, tan foam, light sweetness, medium bitterness, full body, creamy, soft carbonation, bitter,
For a stout this is very nice but shouldn’t be really smelling of coffee. I like it though very smooth
Pours translucent cola brown with a thick and rather persistent light tan head. Aroma has roast malt, earthy and treacle notes. Flavor has bold earthy, roast malt, nutty and treacle tones with a woody hop underpinning. Smooth, if not viscous, texture lets it gallop down the pipes, leaving a persistent if not strong tingle. No nightmares here, just good beer.
Something in between a porter and a stout, this beer has an unstable head, very dark ruby red colour (near black) and strongly roasted aroma of coffee, bitter chocolate, toasted bread, peppery hops and plums; taste is smoothly malty, sourish touch, dryish, with strong coffee-like roasted bitterness and long peppery hop bitterness. Complex, with plenty of personality.
Une bouteille. Un liquide brun avec des reflets rouges. Un nez intense de chocolat et de sirop d’érable. Une bouche de mélasse et de fond de tonne, goût de tabac. Un bon porter.
Bottle shared at a tasting at the Beer & Beyond shop. Very dark brown with white ring. Chocolate, dyacetil and chocolate milk aroma, a little buttery and sweet with some wood in the mouth, but more buttery than roasty. Smooth texture, full-bodied. Not amazing.