A late arrival in my tasting rundown of this year’s Brewers Guild Awards trophy winners, in this case champion Dark Lager. Late maybe, but this one arrived in style, contained within a leviathan one litre can. Just cracking it open was strangely daunting. Aromas of malt biscuits and bush honey, with toasted whole grain bread in the background along with a fruity and faintly herbal hoppiness. The palate leans drier than the rich nose would suggest, with clean but robust malt character up front and a cleansing hop bitterness further in. Big and chewy at first, but gradually drying into the long finish to end with a touch of flinty minerality and just a thread of smoke. An immensely satisfying dark lager that compacts many layers of flavour into its extremely mild 4.8 per cent ABV like only dark beer can.