We've made this beer 5 times before, going back 12 years, but always and only at Redemption’s brewery in Tottenham. This is the first batch we’ve welcomed them to ours and brewed it here.

The inspiration is what we think a mild ale of the Victorian era would be like – to our current tastes this would come across as something warming, stronger than we would expect, lush and rich with caramels, toffees, burnt sugars on both the flavour and the mouthfeel. Fruity US hops playing an untraditional but pitch perfect supporting role that buttresses and reinforces the malt at play in its dessert like qualities.

The colour runs to dark autumnal hues, browns and russets and heavily concentrated reds. All tempered however through the spice brought on with our house London Ale yeast character, bready / gingerbread, and marmaladey all round. Yet the finish is clean, bitterness arrives to wrap things up.

In 2007, Evin O'Riordain was sent to New York on business and what he tasted in the bars and pubs was, not only to change his life forever, but to prove a pivotal point in the UK beer scene's revival. He spent the next 2 years homebrewing and honing his skills, making big flavoured and challenging beers. In 2009, The Kernel Brewery was born and word slowly spread about this man making fantastic beers under a railway arch in South East London. A move to bigger premises saw them finally be able to meet demand and they are now named in the top 50 Breweries in the world by Rate Beer.

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