What beer are we drinking this week, too?

I was in Belfast last weekend and had lots of drinking opportunities between some sightseeing.

I began with a pint of nitrogenated Whitewater Belfast Black, which really surprised me. It styles itself as a 'Traditional Irish Stout' but I didn't find it overly dry. Lots of roasty flavours and quite a full, chewy mouthfeel, though perhaps this was the nitro.

The hotel was right beside the local Spoons, the Bridgehouse - a magical place; the stuff of dreams. There I sampled a can of Sixpoint Bengali Tiger, which, I must say really reminded me of Modus Hoperandi. Very full on hop profile but with a wonderful smooth maltiness behind it.

My OH was a bit peckish so ordered some cheap food there. I paid the additional £1.50 and bought a can of Sweet Action. Initially I thought of it as a slightly toned-down version of Bengali Tiger, but perhaps my tastebuds were fried. I never would have imagined that it was an example of that curious beer style, the cream ale. Perhaps the name should have been the clue though. Having tried one or two cream ales in the States, I can say I wasn't a fan of the style, but this was quite delicious. The hops balanced the sweetness well.

I had a number of cask ales there too over the weekend, one of which was Wolf Silver Fox, for which I paid the princely sum of £2.40. It uses cascade and challenger hops - ususally a nice sign - but I found it relatively subdued. A nice sessionable bitter, in my eyes.

A trip to Houlihan's restaurant on the barge on the Lagan resulted in a bottle of Farmageddon India Export Porter, which I must say was a fabulous beer at 5.2%. It really reminded me of McGrath's stout, with the same typical stouty notes of coffee and chocolate, and with a similar yeasty tang behind it.

A meal in the Cathedral Quarter came with Hilden's eponymous beer. I found this quite a disappointment. Definitely a malt-forward red ale, albeit without the complex caramel notes I'd have expected. I thought it was overly carbonated and really lacking in backbone.

In the Crown I was delighted to sample a cask milk stout by Tontine. I really enjoyed it. All of the lovely undertones one would expect but with a delicious sweetness behind it. I love milk stouts in particular as I find drier stouts a little sharp occasionally. I felt like a real English northerner as I lapped it down.

On a milk stout binge, on the way back I picked up some Mackeson's milk stout for easy sipping over the coming weeks.