I was rather pleased to net some of this, being away last weekend when it was being served for the first time in a local beer festival that I was sad to miss, and I felt I needed more of an occasion than "I fancy a beer" at lunchtime to justify having an ale at... uh... lunchtime. So I mowed the lawn. Productivity! Effort! Beer! And, yes, job was a good'un. Would you like to know more?
As you can see from the photo, the brew was up to standard for a warm and sunny afternoon. Great label (sorry, but it is) and a decent pour with plenty of light hopped fruit on the nose putting me in mind of walking into greengrocers back when I was young and they'd just put their oranges out. That is, a delicate sense of orange without being sharp or over-powering atop a fruity sensation that still manages to hark back to Um Bongo and those strangely flavoured eighties drinks that would probably be banned or too expensive to produce these days. However, my olfactory sense is not what it ought to be at the moment, being afflicted with the fact that I'd just done the lawn, and so it was barely noticeable among the grassy notes of my lawn. Not that this should be seen as a critical comment, just an admission that my own review of the nose ought to be taken with a pinch of salt.
The images do not do the colour justice, I'm afraid, it was much clearer and decently beer-coloured in real life. There was a good carbonation, nicely sparkling above the edges of my glass, and the extra sediment that I poured in like a madman swirled nicely in the unfined brew. Earlier in the day I had been out on a walk and nearly made it through to a vast country park some miles close to where I live (Shipley in case you were wondering) and the whole experience was brought to mind in the combination of colour and aroma of this one - being fresh and haughty all at once but light enough not to be over-powering. It could have been a lager but for the delicious hops and it could have been fruit juice but for the drying effect of the yeast. Indeed, it was probably the yeast and malt that won through in the end.
Onto the tongue and this let loose with a salvo of heavy fruit hops and yeast. Big malt cascades into the centre of the taste and the gunnels are left washed with the hops. I talked to Stuart in the Craft One and he told me that they'd added almost twice as much hops to this one as the Craft E-1 Mission to Space earlier in the year. I'll be honest, I couldn't tell, but there was a definite hop punch as it left the middle of the mouth and moved toward the end of the taste. A big fruit hops aftertaste left me quenched and in need of more. At 4.4% ABV this was a good little number to have in the middle of the day, no danger of me being too far gone to get on with things, but it was still too much for a drive down to the dump to get rid of some things pulled out of the utility room in a cleaning frenzy as I watched the youngest. Mind you, I would counsel against any driving after any beer, so perhaps I shouldn't blame the strength of this brew.
An easy drinker, with plenty of flavour and bursting with freshness that is well-suited to the dog-days of summer and the end of a holiday. Nothing about this but the thirst quenching properties says beach to me, and I mean that as a compliment. In short, this was a lovely ale to finish my holidays with (and the springboard to a decent brace down at the Crafty One in the later afternoon) and a perfect accompaniment to actually doing some gardening for the first time in a few weeks. I'm glad I got it in and I'm glad I waited a few days before having some - the weather really came out for it and really augmented the whole thing.
Enjoy this best knowing that you are supporting an excellent charity and after doing some work in the garden. Heft that lawnmower through the couple of weeks growth firm in the knowledge that your lack of garden-care had been transformed into a positive by the unseasonal heatwave earlier on so that the turf is looking half decent in a small patch near to where you opened the bottle. Drink deep, drink often, but do not quaff for the strength is deceptive and it deserves to be unhurried and enjoyed. Not quite savoured, but time taken to appreciate all that it can do.
Where do post your revuews aside from the odd review on G+
ReplyDeleteJust Twitter (I know) and Facebook (I know again).
DeleteI haven't posted anywhere since March! Good to write another review though! And good to see you dropping by!