Hop Horizons
Beer Information
Bullhouse: El Capitan
This Imperial export stout is/was brewed by Bullhouse in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland. It's achieved an overall score of 68.93%. Based on 1 tasting, the average ABV is 7.50%. It was purchased from Londis in Liverpool on 15 Feb 2025.
The Empress is a colossal 15.5% barrel-aged barley wine from Manchester's Wander Beyond. Based on The Emperor, it spends 15 months in a mix of Scotch whisky and bourbon barrels – transforming an already powerful beer into something closer to a rich after-dinner drink.
It pours a deep mahogany-brown, with aromas of treacle, toffee, fruit cake and dark caramel alongside vanilla, oak and warming whisky.
The flavour is intensely rich. Sticky toffee and dark sugar lead into raisins, dates and dried fruit, followed by vanilla, bourbon and a deeper whisky character. The oak brings a little dryness and tannin, helping to rein in what is inevitably a very sweet and concentrated beer.
The body is exceptionally thick and silky, with low carbonation and substantial warmth. At 15.5% there's no disguising the strength, but the spirit character feels integrated rather than simply hot.
The Empress is emphatically not an everyday barley wine. It's huge, luxurious and best approached in a small glass, slowly. Treacle, fruit cake, oak and whisky combine into an extravagant sipping beer that captures Wander Beyond at its most uncompromising.
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Beer Listing
| Date and Time | Container | Pub/Place and Where | Strength ABV | Colour | Score Components | Score | Descriptive word(s) | Book No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st May 2026 at 4:25 pm | can | (home), Liverpool, Merseyside, England | 7.50 | black |
Taste: 91.76% Head: 82.22% Aroma: 56% Ease: 73.33% Clarity: 100% |
68.928% | robust | 1034 |
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Other Beers (etc.) by Bullhouse
Apart from El Capitan, Hop Horizons lists 24 others by Bullhouse. These are:
Aye Caramba (w/ Garage Beer Co.) Big Fish Small Pond Brick Brill! Budgie Smuggler Cecil the Vessel Comradery (w/ Coalition) Dark Roasty Beer Dead Ball Dill With It Frank the Dank Frank the Tank Gulp Hoppy Days Meet Your Maker Merg Bro Pie Face Road Trippin' Rolling Papers Slurp Small Axe Smiling Politely Stouts Out! Suds