ATOM brewery are, roughly, a year old now. Based in an industrial estate near Hull, this small brewery has been busy refining a core range of inspired ales, as well as throwing some curve balls.

With specials including a delightful chamomile pale ale and their recent collaboration with Elixir, the Devil’s Bilge Water – a porter containing smoked hops, lemon thyme, and chipotle peppers – it’s hard not to turn heads, especially when the beer works as well as this.

Dark Alchemy, while part of Atom’s core range, retains this sense of experimentation because it contains no hops. Brewed with cardamom and coriander to add bitterness and aroma, this is a beer that is both intellectually stimulating and easy-drinking.

Pouring black with very little head to speak of, just a thin ring of tan bubbles at the edges, the aroma is lead by liquorice and star anise at first, with chocolate, damp wood, and coriander lingering in the background.

Light bodied and sweet, fudge and thyme lead into cocoa and nutmeg before ground coriander once again rises to take the lead. The lack of hops leaves the finish sweet, though only a touch cloying, while dusty spice holds it in check.

• Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York