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We were feeling a little fragile on Friday night after heavy weeks at work and decided to spend the evening in with a game of Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective and a couple of suitably Victorian gothic beers.

Marble Decadence (8.7%) was pleasing in every way; large gulps were a mindblowing treat for the senses, but delicate sipping worked too, giving us chance to enjoy the* chocolate, vanilla, cherry and raisin flavours which emerged in the mouth one after another over the course of several minutes. A bit of a Heston Blumenthal beer, this one — there’s surely some alchemy at work in its brewing.

Brodie’s Romanov Empress Stout was a freebie and even heavier at a whopping 12.1%. It gave Boak an instant headache (lots of alcohol, lots of sugar) but Bailey enjoyed the almost chewy texture and complex, Harvey’s-like sourness and hints of coal-tar. Enthusiastic conditioning meant that the carpet enjoyed most of it, sadly, but then a full 500ml would have probably done for us.

We solved the case fairly easily. The lion tamer’s brother did it.



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