JOVIAN

BEER REVIEW: 428

BREWER: Beyond Belief Brewing, Hertfordshire, England

STYLE: Stout

ABV: 5%

VESSEL: 440ml tin

DATE OF POST: 19th December 2025

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

I had been waiting for Jovian all week. The bottle sat on the counter like a promise, brown hues glowing softly, the graphic around the beer’s makeup catching the light just right. It looked clever, it looked thoughtful, it looked like someone cared. The idea of surplus pasta and brownies turned into a stout felt bold and generous, like a brewer with a conscience and a sense of humour.
I opened it slowly, expecting richness, expecting warmth, expecting something that would wrap around me like a blanket and say, yes, this is what you hoped for. But the nose came first, kelp and burnt barley. Not a whisper of brownie, not even a hint of comfort. I told myself it might open up, it didn’t.
In the glass, it looked thin, not lean or elegant, just thin. I took a sip. There was some sweet chocolate at the front, and a flicker of bitter coffee. But the mouthfeel was absent, not light, not crisp, just missing. The flavours tried to speak but had no body to carry them. It was like listening to a song through broken speakers.
I kept going, hoping it would build, it didn’t. The sweetness stayed, but without depth. The bitterness lingered, but without bite. It was a beer that had all the right ideas and none of the follow-through, like a dream that starts with colour and ends in static.
Jovian wasn’t terrible, but it broke my heart a little. I wanted to love it, I really did.

Sammy’s Rating: 42%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

An interstellar approach to tin art… ok ok, yeah I’m alright with that but BBB haven’t exactly nailed it now have they?! And I’m afraid to say that when it comes to the beer itself, Houston, well actually Borehamwood, we have a problem.

The brew itself does get off of the ground quite well in fairness. There is a lovely yet faint brownie aroma up the shnoz and the initial flavour is again one of the chocolate loveliness that a brownie brings. But from there on in I’m afraid this attempt at reaching for the moon begins to plummet back down to earth.

Jovian (cool name, don’t quite see the correlation with the beer, but a cool name) just loses all momentum the further you get into the brew.

The taste of brownie dissipates to be replaced with a slight sour oddness. The body then seems to get thinner and thinner the lower your glass gets. The sourness does eventually fade, thankfully, but seems to be replaced by absolutely nothing. One late positive to cling onto is that the late late late mouthfeel is actually lovely.

But overall this stout just completely misses the essence of what a stout actually is and indeed should be.

A quick side note on the brewery… pos and neg.

POSITIVE:

I do love what Beyond Belief are attempting here. Brewing beers with surplus pasta and what ever odds and ends they can get their hands on. This time around, brownies.

NEGATIVE:

I’m sorry, but if you’re gonna call your outfit Beyond Belief Brewing, you better be making some absolute top end beer. And… well you know where I’m at already with Jovian.

Jymi’s Rating: 45%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 43.5%

MOB review next weekend: GINGERBREAD LATTE by VAULT CITY

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

Bluesky: @museonbooze.bsky.social

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M O B 2025

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