Our month started at Northern Monk’s Dark & Wild Festival, where we tried some truly exceptional beers. We managed to sneak in our first visit to Brewery Wharf Tavern - a lovely venue on the canal. We also had some stunning stouts at home before squeezing in a last-minute holiday in Türkiye.

It’s been really tough to pick a top five this month - we have had so many high-scoring brews - but we’ve done our best to pick the five frontrunners.

Here’s a rundown of our favourite new brews for November 2025.

Both Barrels Oak Aged Broadside by Adnams (Southwold, UK)

Old Ale 10%

We picked this up during a visit to Southwold back in May and finally cracked it open this month. It had notes of Broadside, but also had similarities to a dessert wine. Absolutely delicious.

Brewer’s note: It's Broadside, but not as you know it! Aged in ex-bourbon barrels with some cherries inside, this limited edition beer is a taste explosion of oak, cherries, whisky and a touch of rhubarb. Cheers!

Brewer’s website: Adnams Southwold

Druif Roussanne Blend No. 37 by 3 Fonteinen (Belgium)

Lambic with Roussanne grapes 9.4%

This was the first beer we tried at Dark & Wild. We had already decided to start with 3 Fonteinen, as they have an excellent reputation as one of the top lambic producers in Belgium (and we do love a lambic). We weren’t disappointed with our choice - it was funky, dry and tart with a slight sweetness coming from the grapes.

Brewer’s note: For this Druif, we macerated organic Roussanne grapes from Domaine La Baronne. This winery is situated in Corbières in Languedoc, in between Carcassonne and Narbonne. André and Suzette Lignères aim is to create intense yet balanced wines, safeguarding the biodiversity in their vineyards through low yields and biodynamic treatment of their vines. We macerated the full Roussanne grapes for more than eight months in an oak barrel. We then blended with some more four-year old lambik. The four-year old proportion makes up more than 60% of this fine grape lambik blend. The weighted average age upon bottling is therefore more than 31 months. The final fruit proportion is 307 grams of grapes per litre of Druif.

Brewer’s website: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen

Liquid Blueberry by One Drop Brewing Co (Australia)

Triple Fruited Imperial Sour Ale 10%

Another beer from D&W, and this absolutely decadent 10% sour ale lived up to its name, tasting exactly like liquid blueberries, but with lovely sweet vanilla just taking the edge off the tartness.

Brewer’s note: The fifteenth dip of our Liquid Series™ - a pure, unadulterated focus on complete flavour saturation. Introducing Liquid Blueberry – using every blueberry product and process available to brewers right now, we’ve laid down a brew in honour of one of our favourite fruits, something we love to work with here at the brewery. Over 750gm/L of Blueberries give this liquid gold a deep, rich, and bursting with jammy sweetness, with a touch of Papua vanilla to smooth it all out. Yum!

Brewer’s website: One Drop Brewing Co

Double Barrel Liminal Space by Temporal Artisan Ales (Canada)

Munichwine 13.98%

This was another standout beer for us at D&W. It was absolutely divine. Another very boozy sipper that you just wanted to savour. It smelled sweet like syrup, but had Christmas pudding and coconut-esque flavours, finishing with notes of bourbon. It had the body of a stout (despite being a barley wine) and was excellent.

Brewer’s note: A blend of munichwines aged in Buffalo Trace and Brazilian Amburana barrels, further aged nearly two additional years in a fresh Buffalo Trace barrel.

This one is really special to me. I feel like it represents the growth of the Void Series perfectly, as well as the progression of beers over the past 3 years.

When I first blended the original Liminal Space back in April 2022 I was blown away by the wood character of the Amburana barrel. It was fresh in from @dornashavana in Brazil - via @northeastbarrelcompany - one of the only new barrels I brought in for this project. The wood character was so powerful. Intense aromas of baking spice, cinnamon, and something I can only really describe as "cake".

I paired that intense base, full of exotic wood character (to a point that was almost overwhelming), with a munichwine full of bourbon character. The resulting blend brought balance, with spice and bourbon harmoniously doing their thing.

Brewer’s website: Temporal Artisan Ales

BEER OF THE MONTH

Unspoken (Blend #3) by Factory (Finland)

Imperial Stout 12%

There were some strong contenders for this month’s beer of the month and in any other month, any of the beers above could have taken the title. We decided this one just pipped it because it was made without using any adjuncts - just a blend of two barrel-aged stouts. It tasted like alcoholic golden syrup. Definitely a sipper, very boozy with a long finish.

Brewer’s note: The 3rd blend consists of the following barrels:

•⁠ 75% Imperial Stout aged for 12 months in a Wild Turkey barrel

•⁠ 25% Imperial Stout aged for 36 months in a Rye Whiskey barrel

The blend #3 offers rich chocolate, caramel, dark fruit and subtle roasty notes with a bold, punchy whiskey character. Expect layers of spicy cinnamon, vanilla and deep char from the oak. The 12 month barrel contributes sweet chocolate notes, while the 36 month barrel adds depth with complex barrel character, dark chocolate, and subtle dark fruit.

Honourable mention

These new brews didn’t quite make it into our top five, but we still feel they are worth a mention.

Slenderman by Tartarus (Leeds, UK)

Imperial Stout 11%

Despite Tartarus being so local to us, we’ve never tried any of their beers - until now. And I have to say, they definitely live up to their reputation. This barrel-aged stout was sweet and creamy, oily and thick. Delicious. We rated it just as highly as some of the beers in our top five, and any other month, it could easily have taken the top spot. We’re very excited about trying more Tartarus brews in the future.

Brewer’s note: Slenderman is a thick, dark, rich and sweet impy stout, flavoured with Chocolate, Vanilla and lactose.

Brewer’s website: Tartarus Beers

Revisited

Not a new brew but a beer we’ve revisited recently because it’s one of our favourites.

Broadside by Adnams (Southwold, UK)

Ale 6.3%

Since we were trying Both Barrels Oak Aged Broadside, it made sense to remind ourselves what the original Broadside tasted like, and it was as good as we remembered. We’d certainly be happy to revisit it again in the future (on cask or in bottle).

Brewer’s note: Brewed with Pale Ale malt and First Gold hops, Broadside is a dark ruby red beer rich in fruitcake aromas, almonds and conserved fruit.

Brewed to commemorate the fierce Battle of Sole Bay fought against the Dutch Republic in 1672 off the Southwold coast, it has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame. Adnams Broadside is a fine heart-warming English beer, rich in flavours of malt and hops and enjoying a special place in our hearts.

Please note that Broadside (cask) and Broadside Strong Original (bottle) are two totally different recipes.

Brewer’s website: Adnams Southwold