Time and Tide (and beer) wait for no man!!

When you are looking for the most exciting up and coming breweries in the UK, you have to look to the East…. Almost as far East as you can in the UK to the small village of Eastry in Kent. There you will find Time and Tide Brewing.

Founded on the idea of creating unique beers and experimenting with flavours that you wouldn’t think would ever work (A beetroot Hefeweizen anyone??!!), Time and Tide have managed to do what so many other smaller breweries have struggled with, creating a consistent and solid line up of beers that create all the hype for themselves and leave everyone talking about them.

Not content with just pushing out great beer, they are constantly engaging with their customers, getting and taking feedback to improve or just to engage in chatter about all things beer and it’s this presence that has enamoured them to so many in the craft community.

Below are my thoughts on the beers I’ve had so far and even a sneak peek at an as yet unreleased beer that I was very lucky to sample…….

The Kraken Coffee stout – 7.4%

'What a Kraken grasps, it does not lose, be it a longship or a leviathan'..... George R.R. Martin could not have been more right because once this this deliciously dark denizen of the deep has you he's never letting go!!! One of my all time favourite coffee stouts, The Kraken is one of those beers I can just go to over and over again.

This pours a thick, deep black with a dense beige head. Big aromas of black coffee and dark chocolate with a vanilla sweetness. Taste is pure coffee and chocolate goodness with some essence of toasted malts and molasses. There's a small amount of carbonation and a medium body. I know there have been a few tweaks to the recipe since I first had this and they've only made it better!!

The great beer dad rating - 9/10

All in Jim IPA – 5.4%

That's right..... I'm going All In....Jim!!

This is a great IPA brewed with citra, cascade, sorachi and herkules hops with an ABV of 5.4%

This pours gold with a light haze and has some nice aromas of peach, passionfruit and pine. Taste is fairly sweet with a lasting bitterness at the back but it's not overpowering. In the middle of all of that there's stone fruits and grapefruit.

This is a really good, sessionable IPA that I could easily fill the fridge with

The great beer dad rating - 8.5/10

Double stout – 9%

Lots of chocolate, coffee and roasted malt on the nose as soon as the ring was pulled. Silky smooth pour with a thick off-white head. Taste is coffee and chocolate with a good smokiness. This doesn't feel like a 9% beer and I could happily drink this through the day

The great beer dad rating - 9/10

Papa Midnight black IPL – 6.5%

This is a real enigma of a beer, as the name suggests it pours a deep black with aromas of roasted malts, herbs and grass. Taste is a delightful blend of roasted grains with citrusy hops and pine with a nice warmth at the finish. Time to embrace the darkness and let it take me.....

The great beer dad rating - 8.5/10

Domino white stout – 8.6%

We end with a very special sneak preview of Time and Tide’s 8.6% imperial white stout, Domino. This is a big beer, no doubt about it. As the name suggests it pours a very pale amber colour but the aromas are all impy stout, roasted malts, chocolate and smoke with a little sweetness. The taste follows nicely, with the same deep roasty flavours and a hoppy bitterness at the end. Lighter mouthfeel than a traditional impy stout but in no way detracts from what is a fantastic beer. Personally, I can't wait until this is released so I can get some more and especially see if ageing adds anything to the flavour

The great beer dad rating - 9/10

An Odyssey to the promised land of beer

Some say that the leap into brewing is a voyage into the unknown so calling your brewery Odyssey would seem fitting.

Odyssey brew co. is a family run brewery based on the National Trust Brockhampton Estate in Hereford and takes its inspiration from the incredibly diverse US craft beer scene and their beer line up reflects that perfectly, from light, fragrant wheat beers, to hoppy pale ales through to deep, luxurious coffee stouts.

Their mantra is product before profit, something that really should be the case for a lot of breweries, and they only sell through independent retailers, bars and pubs, and through their own tap room, The Beer in Hand, in Hereford.

The US influence can be seen clearly in their current line up of released beer, with a range of hop forward IPA’s, including the fantastic San Diego Unsession IPA and Dr. Greenthumb double IPA. For those who prefer the darker side there are such delights as the imperial Hop Zombie Blood, an imperial red ale, and their Latte Stout Export (See below) that I hear may have an imperial version coming for 2017.

They have also branched out recently on the awesome collaboration beer, Honey Bee Good with the also excellent Deya Brewing, review below

The beers

Devil May Care India Pale ale – 7.4%

This was my first ever brew from Odyssey and what an epic beer it is!!!

A big, dank IPA, this pours a dark amber colour with a thin head and huge tropical fruit aromas, mainly mango and pineapple with a little malty goodness. Taste is actually a little bitter at first then straight into those thick tropical fruits, finishing quite dry with a hint of grapefruit. Honestly, this is one of the best single IPA's I have had in a while and at 7.4% it's a bit of a banger.

The great beer dad rating - 9/10

Honey Bee Good – Collaboration with Deya Brewing – 5%

Proof positive right here that brewery collaboration is a wonderful thing! Honey bee good from is a real gem. This pours a gorgeous golden colour and fills the room with big aromas of stone fruits, vanilla, sweet, sticky honey and a truck load of hops. Taste however is no way near as sweet which is a good thing in my opinion. Plenty of Hop bitterness smoothed out with those fruits and only a mild hint of that honey that just enhances it rather than overpowers. Mouthfeel is thick and luxurious, this is a proper, beery milkshake. I would happily fill my fridge with this!!

The great beer dad rating - 9/10

Latte Stout Export – 6.6%

Honestly, I can't fault this Latte stout export from, it's everything I look for in a good stout. Pours a thick, jet black with aromas of dark chocolate, smoky roasted malts, and rich milky coffee.

Flavour is just a pure copy of that amazing aroma, smooth chocolate and a lovely smokiness. Finishes with a little vanilla and some more roasted coffee. I'm gonna say it, I love this beer! At 6.6% this is just right for a big bottle that can be enjoyed at leisure 

The great beer dad rating - 10/10