‘Black Lava’ was one of my first commercial brews, at the end of 2016. I brewed it again in late 2017 as ‘Xmas Black Lava’ throwing incarefully adding another dimension to the brew with some seasonal spices. For both of these brews I erred on the side of subtle with the liquorice and vanilla, as is my wont. For the 2018 brew of this beer I decided to increase the l+v just a tad. Of course, using liquorice root and vanilla pods you are a bit at the mercy of the extent to which those natural ingredients impart flavour (compared with the more known element of bottles of vanilla essence etc).
A cask only brew, at a slightly lower, pub-friendly, ABV than previous brews. One firkin was quaffed at the beer festival at The Black Buoy Inn, Wivenhoe, over the early May bank holiday weekend, one on the bar at The Victoria Inn, and the last one at Te Dove Street Inn in Ipswich beerfest later in May.