What've you got?

The off licence shelves were festooned with a plethora of gaudily-hued Tiny Rebel cans. This Welsh brewery hasn't exactly been a favourite of mine over the years, and has received a degree of opprobrium in the past regarding its treatment of workers, so just a few small ones then, to see how their beer is these days.

I start with a novelty stout called Buttery Biscuit Bass, with its Saul Bass-inspired design. The claimed novelty is that it's cheesecake-flavoured, though the can lists only normal beer ingredients plus lactose. It looks a bit thin for that: a translucent dark brown without much of a head. It smells more like a brown ale than a stout too, brimming with sweet caramel and coffee, as well as sweeter-still condensed milk and honeycomb candy. It's only 5.4% ABV and I think that works in its favour -- it would be very easy for something like this to be cloyingly thick, but while there's plenty of body, it doesn't go to extremes, allowing the medium carbonation to do some much-needed cleansing. There are zero surprises in the flavour, but it doesn't taste anything like a cheesecake. The coffee from the aroma is central, redeeming it somewhat as a stout, and that honeycomb stickiness makes up the numbers. And that's your lot. While not horrifically sugary, it isn't far off either. The first few sips were a bit of fun but there's not enough going on to keep it interesting, even for a mere 33cl.

Hoping for a sharp contrast, I opened Dude Love next, designated a West Coast IPA, though only 5.5% ABV. It has been made with modern sensibilities by the looks of things, being pale yellow and quite hazy. We're back on style with the aroma which is fabulously zesty: lemon and grapefruit, what could be more West Coast? That's mostly what the flavour is about, with citrus a-go-go and not a whole lot else. It's not one of the caramellish amber-coloured beers in this style, and all the better for it. The fly in the ointment is that haze. This would be potentially a stunner if it were crystalline-clean, pin bright and needle sharp (with maybe a smidge of dank), but the visible fuzz manifests in both the texture and taste. Dude Love is dirty, and I'm not hugely into it. This comes across a bit like the well-intentioned output of a beginner's shed-sized brewery, not the premium product of their country's beer ambassadors.

There's no escaping the murk with our finisher: Butty, an 8% ABV double IPA which is densely hazed, with no sign of caramelised malt at all, just the clouded-up pale yellow sort. Still, it starts out like the best examples of this style, with a softly spoken aroma of stonefruit and fruit-salad citrus. The flavour sustains this understated classiness, giving lime rind, grapefruit flesh and succulent peach in a way that's balanced and co-ordinated; neither the tropical fruit nor citrus bite taking control. Balance in a murky 8%-er is something of a holy grail, where I'm concerned. There's a slightly unpleasant and amateurish grit in the finish which spoils an otherwise flawless performance, and a boozy waft that's unsubtle, but not unpleasant. I was three beers in by the time of drinking it and rather enjoyed the buzz it brought. Tiny Rebel may be an elder statesperson of craft beer at this stage, but this tasted like the state of the hazy art done well.

For the second time recently, I feel inclined to give props to a brewery for delivering what they said they would. All was mostly to style, well made and, while silly in places, not taken to unpleasant extremes. It's not for me to say Tiny Rebel has grown up, but these have me thinking I'll check in with them again sooner rather than later.