Arriving onto a cold wet station at half past nine on a Thursday morning I was met with the all too familiar Northern Rail announcement that my train would be delayed, not that it would dampen the anticipation and excitement of the day that laid ahead. I had been waiting for the past month for the day to arrive and it was finally here, it was the day of the Omnipollo tap takeover at Buxton brewery tap house and cellar celebrating the 5th year anniversary of arguably one of the most important beers to date, for both Buxton and Omnipollo. The beer in question? Yellow Belly, a huge hitting, complex, 11% peanut butter biscuit stout, which if you haven’t yet had I would strongly urge you to get your hands on a bottle or two.
I stepped off the train onto a small, empty, single platform station. Arriving into Buxton I wasn’t sure what to expect, but for a small station it had all the facilities you would need including toilets, a ticket office and even a small seated waiting area with a vending machine. I came out of the station and headed left into the town centre looking for the main high street having heard about a small, craft beer shop somewhere in Buxton called Beer District. Having never been to Buxton I wasn’t sure where it was, I headed right and hoped that I would stumble across it eventually, which I did, just off the main street. It was only a small bottle shop stocking a variety of craft beers, ciders and spirits (mainly gins and vodkas). The craft beer selection was good including all the usual suspects as well as a few oddities. I picked up a can of Fubar by Ridgeside brewery – a rhubarb and custard sour, a relaunch of their 2017 collaboration with Brewdog Leeds. There will be a review of that sometime in the near future, possibly later this week. The shop is definitely worth a visit if your ever in the local area. Moving on from Beer District we made our way over to the tap house and cellar.
Walking through the doors to the tap room, you immediately feel welcome. A great atmosphere fills the pub with people eating, chatting and maybe most importantly drinking. You enter the tap room through double doors with the bar on your left and the main seating area to your right. The bar has 16 keg lines and 2 traditional cask lines on at all times, alongside this there is a beer fridge with the most recent and freshest offerings from Buxton’s range. There is an up to date tap list on Untappd and the Buxton brewery website which you can find here, this shows you the current tap lists for the tap room, cellar and also the range of cans and bottles they currently have available. The tap house also has a fantastic range of food and coffees available, the food is served from 12 – 9PM everyday. The prices seemed reasonable and the food looked nice, but I didn’t have time to eat though I definitely would the next time I visit.
I found a table tucked away and promptly headed to the bar, much to my surprise there were already 8 of the Omnipollo beers on meaning that I would be able to get these ticked off the list before heading into the cellar. The Omnipollo beers they had on at this point were;
- Maz – Pale Ale – 5.6% – £1.85
- Sour Cherry Candy Popcorn Sour – 3.5% – £1.55
- Double Peach Candy Popcorn Sour – 3.5% – £1.55
- Perikles – Rustic Pilsner – 4.3% – £1.40
- Nebuchadnezzar – Pale ale – 4.1% – £1.40
- Bianca Perisca Wild wild Brett Peach – American Wild Ale – 6% – £3.15
- Yellow Belly – Imperial stout – 11% – £3.35
- Original Double Vanilla IIPA – Imperial IPA – 8% – £3.35
All the prices are for a 1/3 measure, and all were served on keg as you might expect.
I started of with half a pint of Omnipollo’s MAZ (formally mazarin), a 5.6% oatmeal, American pale ale. Having had this one before in bottle I knew what to expect; a hazy, creamy, pale ale with a good hop profile. The beer poured with a 2 finger white head and a fantastic hazy orange colour, reminding me of the NEIPA’s that we have all come to love. The beer had slight carbonation and the aroma was mainly citrus fruits. Following through onto the initial taste the hints of fruit were present but more subtle than the aroma would suggest, the beer had a lovely, smooth, creamy mouthfeel from the oats. It wasn’t what I would describe as a hoppy beer, but it was very easy to drink and refreshing. An excellent pale ale which just fell a little short of its full potential.
Omnipollo Maz Pale Ale – 5.6%
Appearance: 4 | Aroma: 4 | Taste: 3.5 | Mouthfeel: 3.75 | Overall: 3.5
I moved on from the Maz to the Double Peach Candy Popcorn Sour (seen below). Sours are not a style of beer that I tend to drink too often, but having it on good recommendation that this was one not to be missed I pulled the trigger and ordered myself a 1/2.
The appearance was somewhat like a traditional cloudy lemonade, hazy with a straw yellow colour. The beer poured with a one finger white head that quickly dissipated, and only the small head that you can see in the picture remained. The aroma on this beer was amazing, a massive hit of peach and stone fruits followed by a subtle buttery aroma with a slight hint of vanilla. I was suitably impressed by this beer as to be honest I wasn’t expecting much from it being both a sour and only 3.5%. The initial taste was all peach, easing into the realms of buttered popcorn and ending in quite a dry tart finish. This beer reminded me of a Peach yogurt. The beer didn’t quite have the body and mouthfeel that I would have liked, with the flavours I feel that it would have worked with a creamier mouthfeel to backup the peach aspect. With that aside it was still a solid beer and a great introduction into Omnipollo’s sours. I spoke with the owner/brewer Henok Fentie later in the night, he mentioned that the beer was inspired by a peach Swedish candy, and I think he mentioned that they were used to brew the beer but unfortunately he didn’t reveal the name.
Omnipollo Double Peach Candy Popcorn Sour – 3.5%
Appearance: 3 | Aroma: 4 | Taste: 3.75 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Overall: 3.75
With a bit of time left to go I managed to sneak in a couple of Buxton’s own as it would be rude not to. I had a can of the Shelterstone from the fridge which is what I would describe as an old school style IPA.
Whilst being a good beer I didn’t take any notes for this as I was to busy chatting away, so apologies there. I do remember it being good but not great pouring, with a small white head and a clear amber colour. The can art on the new range of Buxton’s beers is fantastic and it’s something I always appreciate when buying cans, I have had a few of their latest range and the can art is different enough that you know which ones you have had, but they all fit in together with the same styling. I will probably end up picking up a few more of these from the local bottle shop the next time I visit.
It was close to 4pm now and I had just enough time to squeeze in another pint, I wanted something easy drinking at a fairly low abv so I opted for a pint of Buxton’s Grinlow coming in at 4.6% and only £3.60 a pint. This was served on cask, I have had it earlier in the year on keg and was impressed with it then for being a session IPA. On cask it seemed to be even better, having a cloudy golden amber appearance, and a big fruity aroma. It was very smooth, easy drinking and refreshing, it set me up well for the rest of the evening and it’s a drink that I would definitely get again to review properly.
It was 3:45 and I decided now was the time to make our move over to the cellar. For those of you that haven’t been to Buxton tap house and cellar before the pub is essentially two separate venues; the Tap house is the “traditional” pub type venue serving the freshest releases from Buxton and has been open since 2013, the cellar is located a couple of doors down and serves a different selection of beers, as well as soft serve!
Leaving the Tap house a little earlier meant that I managed to get second place in the que, which is impressive because over the next 15 minutes the que built up and around the Tap house! Not been a ticketed event meant that a long que was inevitable, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for just how long it was.
4 o’clock arrived and the co-owner of Omnipollo Henok Fentie appeared to welcome us and thank us for coming, he told us that it was the tap list of his dreams. Looking at that list it’s easy to see why, it was full of beers that I’d hoped one day to get my hands on, let alone all of them on the same day in the same place. I don’t think anyone there could have been disappointed with the beers on display.
Being second into the cellar I was welcomed with a free can of Omnipollo x Tired hands Mexican Vanilla Piña Colada Milkshake IPA, a can I’ve not seen over here before and definitely something I will be reviewing soon. So make sure to keep an eye on the Facebook and Instagram pages if you’re interested in seeing that!
I got to the bar and ordered the beer that I had been most excited about, Omnipollo Scelerisque!!!
The beer that dreams really are made of. Some sort of mythical beer that I wasn’t sure even existed until I got to the bar, and there it was, one cask for the whole event, served via gravity pour. I know it’s been done before but I have never heard of it being served on cask.
For those of you who don’t know what the fuss is all about its a 50% Bolivia, 50% Dominican Republic Chocolate Sauce Stout, coming in at an impressive 10%. The key words there being chocolate sauce, which it really did taste like! There are no words to describe the experience but I’ll try. First of all, everything you know about beer…. throw that out of the window because this truly is like nothing you’ve had before. There is virtually no taste of alcohol. No hops, no malt, nothing but pure chocolate. The only way I can describe it is when you make a hot chocolate and you’re left with that last bit of undissolved cocoa powder at the end of the cup, and it’s a massive intense hit of cocoa. That… that is what this beer is like. It’s a huge, intense experience which from the first sip leaves you wanting more. It poured with no head as you might expect for the strength, with a rich chocolate colour unlike anything I have ever seen before.
Served on gravity pour cask was a massive plus for this beer, it led to no carbonation whatsoever. The serving temperature was perfect, just slightly below room temp. To add another level of depth to the experience of this beer I got to drink it with Henok himself. Enjoying the beer whilst he chatted to us about his creation and the inspiration behind it was unreal, we chatted about the future plans for Omnipollo and how it all began from a £2000 loan from his mother! It was incredible to be able to chat so openly to one of the co-founders of my favourite brewery, and it is an experience I will never forget. The beer was easily a 5/5 in case you hadn’t gathered that by now!!!
Omnipollo Scelerisque Chocolate Stout – 10%
Appearance: 5 | Aroma: 5 | Taste: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Overall: 5
Starting the event of in a spectacular fashion I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed with any of the other offerings. The first round I also got a Double Ice Cream Strawberry Soft Serve at 6%, which is something else that I’d be wanting to experience for a long time. Soft serve is essentially half a pint of beer topped off with a slush version of that same beer. Henok told us that he took inspiration for the idea from Japanese sports stadiums that served there beer this was to keep them cool in the stadiums. He adapted the process and I can say it works fantastically. I thought it might have been a bit of a gimmick but it really does add a new experience to drinking a beer, and it suits the double ice cream exceptionally well.
Omnipollo x Buxton Strawberry Double Ice Cream Soft Serve – 6%
Appearance: 5 | Aroma: 3 | Taste: 3.75 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Overall: 4
I also bought the 3 AON bottles that were available in limited numbers! These will feature in there own review over the coming weeks!
The que was still painfully long by the time I had finished those 2 beers. Knowing it was going to be a long wait I went back to the Tap house to purchase a couple of drinks to consume whilst queuing – a move which turned out to be a fantastic idea as I ended up waiting for around an hour and half.
Upon finally getting to the bar for the second time I ordered the rest of the beers I was wanting, I decided on a 1/3 of Bacon Burger Stout, a 1/3 of Yellow Belly Sundae, a 1/3 of Maple Truffle Ice Cream Waffle and a Raspberry Ice Cream Soft Serve. By the time I had got to the bar again the Scelerisque was already sold out. Gutted is an understatement but I’m glad I got to sample it non the less.
I managed to make my way to the outside seating area to meet up with a few friends that had got a seat earlier on. I settled in for the remainder of the evening, spending time discussing the beers and sampling each others choices. My notes pretty much became non-existent at this point in the evening as I was so caught up in the atmosphere and event, so apologies there,
I can assure you though that all the beers were incredible. The 2018 Yellow Belly Sundae is exceptional and I think an improvement over last years. It was sweet, rich and boozy, and easily would have been the star of the show if the chocolate sauce stout hadn’t made an appearance. I was running out of time and it was getting close to my last train home. Before leaving I popped back into the Tap house to get a can of Medusa Bay for the train ride home. I left Buxton around 9 o’clock on a massive high! An incredible night and an experience I’m not sure if I will ever get to have again. All the beers were incredible from start to finish, and I wasn’t disappointed with anything, that’s not something that I can often say. The bar staff were friendly, welcoming and accommodating throughout the whole evening and Henok himself was great to speak to, I think he did a great job in making everyone feel welcome there.
My final thoughts?
I’m rarely this excited about a beer but I can easily say that the Omnipollo Scelerisque is hands down the best beer I have ever had, and to be honest that isn’t something that I thought I’d come away from the event being able to say. I was expecting a ton of fantastic beers and for my top 10 beers this year to easily be rearranged, but never did I think I’d have the best beer of my life. I honestly don’t know if anything will ever top that for me, not only as a beer but as an drinking experience.
If you ever get the chance to visit Buxton I can highly recommend a trip to the Tap house and cellar as part of your visit, I’m sure you wont be disappointed.
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Stay Crafty.
The Crafty Postman 