PUB REVIEW

James Campbell (head brewer at Manchester’s Cloudwater Brewery), Colin Stronge (head brewer at Buxton Brewery), Dominic Driscoll (production manager at Thornbridge Brewery) and Matthew Howgate (brewer at Legitimate Industries craft brewery in Leeds).

Brewing, no longer at the Marble Arch but down the road in Williamson Street, is now in the hands of James Kemp.

It’s fair to say that he and Marble are on something of a roll at the moment, with a host of new beers emerging over the last 15 months.

Last year I reviewed some bottled old ales and an imperial stout, and variants of these, aged in various casks and with various yeasts, continue to appear at regular intervals.

However, to mark the 20th anniversary year, the Marble team has embarked on a series of collaboration beers.

These have all appeared in 330ml cans with strikingly designed and pleasingly tactile labels.

Here are three – and more will appear, so do look out for them on the shelves of your local beer shop... Liquid Cuddle (6.5%) Described as a ‘NZ Maibock,’ this is brewed in collaboration with New Zealand’s Yeastie Boys brewery, and takes its inspiration from the German maibocks, which are generally at the lighter and hoppier end of the bock beer family.

It’s a copper-bronze beer with sweet malt on the nose, with touches of marzipan and hazelnut.

As you drink, there’s more sweet malt with perhaps a hint of roast chestnuts, but then the hops come along with big citrus notes and a notable bitterness which lingers into the finish, where there’s also a touch of balancing sweetness.

Brewed with beer writer Melissa Cole, this is a ‘kölsch-style’ beer, which takes its inspiration from another German beer – the kölsch beers of Cologne.

These are famously delicate and hoppy beers, brewed like most ales but

This collaboration is with The Cellar Bar in Chester, and is a saison taking inspiration from Marble’s classic Pint session beer and the classic Belgian Saison Dupont (where its yeast comes from).

Again it’s pale gold with hints of hop and spice on the nose, the latter from the Belgian yeast.

The flavour really bursts through, with lemon, melon, herbs (thyme?) and spice.

The finish is long, with the dry bitterness of a proper saison.