Oli Meade
How do you get to 10 without brewing a single sour beer?
I have no idea, but Loch Lomond managed it!
Then, to celebrate their 10th birthday, as if to drive the point home, a huge fruited sour is exactly what they brewed!
So before we get to the TIPAs and Milk Stouts this week, let’s discuss Loch Lomond’s somewhat seminal beer…
This wicked pink beauty is one of 10 special birthday beers, it’s something so many of us have been waiting for, it’s the absolute business and, at £6.15, it’s also an absolute steal.
This is crammed full of Blairgowrie raspberries – considered among the best in the world due to Scotland’s chilly climate. It’s juicy, it’s bright pink, it’s zingy, it’s fruity and it has a long and lingering tart finish.
Loch Lomond have almost sold out already so get a can while you can! And, while you’re at it, check out their other birthday collabs – an Impy Stout, a Kveik TIPA Polly’s Collab and the Cherry Saison. They’re all massive and all ace – you will not be disappointed!
We have to start with Garage on the hop front this week, and their epic All Out Front TIPA which is filled with so much fruit it should count towards your five a day.
You’ve got pineapple, you’ve got blueberry, it’s packed full of juicy orange, then there’s a beautiful, sticky, resinous pine going on, you’ve got everything you want in a juicy hop-gem – can’t recommend this enough for your drinking pleasures this week!
Next up, one of our firm favourites Whiplash from over in Dublin sent us yet another epic selection this week, and for me the best has got to be Sunshine Under Ground Pale 2021.
You tuck in, it’s pure silk, you look for the lactose and your jaw hits the floor when you find nothing of the sort!
Instead Whiplash have achieved velvet silkiness through bags of oats and wheat, then Cascade, Lemondrop, and a ‘double dry zesting’ packs this with summery, citrusy goodness – it’s lush!
Finally, DEYA’s latest Something Good is in the house!
And this time it’s DEYA meets Yakima Chief’s latest Cryo Pop hop original blend.
Sprinklied with a bit of Citra, it’s another big hoppy beer from DEYA filled with notes of everything we love – tropical mango and ripe peach with a big squeeze of lemon for a fruit salad beer!
New, sexy and suave artisanal ale from Grimm just in! Vacay Sour foregoes the fruit in favour of dry hops, tearing down the traditional boundary between sour and hoppy.
It’s got an unquestionable sour zing but it’s… y’know… it’s beer coloured, it’s mega refreshing, ultra crushable… it’s a belter!
Next up is Lost & Grounded, of Keller Pils fame, who have come out with a magnificent gose in Find Your Road.
A base of 60% wheat malt makes for a seriously pale beer, then lactic cultures provide the zing, to which Lost & Grounded have added a sprinkle of sea salt and coriander for a tangy, zingy, refreshing treat.
They only do a straight up gose once a year… my advice is don’t let this one pass you by!
And finally there’s Track’s Rosa Barrel Aged Sour, which is as upmarket as Grimm’s artisinal offering, and maybe even more so!
This is a blend of two Track beers, both aged for 18 months in Pinot Noir barrels, which are clear in the coconut and vanilla flavours.
Two full months on plums and damsons adds a serious sour bite, so you’ve got dry damson, sour plum and sweet cherry, all wrapped up in a marzipan coating, and with a lingering, tart finish.
Top quality brewing – are Track underrated?!
On the dark front, say hello to Bittersweet Nitro Imperial Coffee Milk Stout from Left Hand of Colorado, USA!
A special blend of Indonesian and Ethiopian coffee beans weaves rich berry notes with spicy undertones into this 8.9% mutha, then a huge nitro injection makes this a cotton-wool wrapped, rich and robust, chocolate-dipped coffee bean that melts in the mouth leaving lingering cream. Epic!
Amundsen are back!
Our first new Dessert In a Can in a while is in, and this time around it’s none other than Chocolate Toffee Peppermint Cookie Dessert in a Can.
Expect adjuncts, expect gloop, expect goo, expect fun… this is a sure sign that winter is coming. Am I the only one that really cannot wait?!
Continuing the dark charge are black mages Left Handed Giant, whose pistachio laced Woodland Creatures Milk Stout will please dark fans everywhere. Loch Lomond were obviously in on the action too. Their Waiting For The Rain Imperial Tablet Stout is their own birthday cake!
A huge haul from Garage spans styles – there’s this Weisse plus another, there’s a DIPA, a pale and a pils, plus the one that will surely prove most popular in A Boy Called Chase NEIPA – and even more, get exploring!
Brew York contribute to the sour front with Jackie Flan Mixed Berry Pastry Sour and Goose Lee Imperial Gooseberry Fool Sour, two beers battling it out for the title of greatest karate beer ever. The Gooseberry wins though… obviously.
DEYA add to Something Good 15 with Man Is The Most Secret Animal On Earth and Better Daze IPA. The first is a cask style pale, the second is the classic DEYA juice!
Beak’s Lulla Table Beer is unmistakably Beak, just in brilliantly welcome sessionable for. And to your session you can probably add Left Handed Giant’s Sky Above Pale – which clocks in at 4.5%.
I love a bit of Double Barrelled, so it’s great to have them back in with Desk Surfing Kölsch-Style Lager and That’s It! Back To Winnipeg Pale. The second is a balance of East and West Coast styles, which is definitely worth a try. Meanwhile their Ding Keller Lager is a hazy, unfiltered lager. I’m hooked!
There’s a load of low-alc stuff too, primarily from Good Karma, get to know the brewery via Rock Leopard collab Culture Shock Radler.
Queer Brewing are back in too, with a pale and Flowers Witbier. There’s also more Kernel – 7% Talus IPA being my pick – plus dive in to new stuff from Polly’s, Brass Castle and, of course, Track – including latest Gold Top Another Lifetime Gold Top DIPA.
Seriously, get rummaging! Good stuff awaits!
As always, I hope you get to try some of these ace new beers this week.
Cheers!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
After Neon Raptor brewed 3 birthday beers, you might expect this list to end after reviewing all 3.
But look beyond the obvious!
There’s also been new Overtone, new Pomona Island and new Pressure Drop this week.
Plus, unexpected hop gems from Rivington and Little Monster.
So without further ado, let’s chat the best new beers in this week!
Neon Raptor turned 5 recently, then brewed up 3 massive flavour-jammed special birthday brews to celebrate!
Open The Door TIPA is the obligatory humungous, juicy, 10% Triple IPA complete with no less than four hop varietals, and packed to the rafters with each for an epic flavour explosion!
With Get On The Floor Imperial Stout you’ve got rich milk chocolate intermingling with specialty roasted coffee, and also a 14.5% ABV that seems like it could well tie in with the beer’s name…
And Everybody Walk The Dinosaur is a mega 10% imperial sour complete with blackberry, cherry, maple and chocolate, which makes it basically a black forest gateaux in one wicked little tin. An awesome brewery & special beers all brewed for one epic celebration – try one, collect them all. Just maybe refrain from drinking them all at once!
I’m as in love with Overtone as ever, and maybe even more so than usual thanks to the latest drop we got this week. Plur DIPA you should already know about, but if not think juicy and tropical gets the Overtone treatment, then Captain, I Am Fading DIPA is basically one enormous fruit cocktail beer.
Honeydew melon, a nice slice of pineapple, juicy peach and a wedge of green apple – its ace!
I also have a lot of love for Lancashire’s Rivington for their new (500ml!) Days Of Candy Pale Ale, a bit like Box Car’s recent Candy effort it veers on the sweet side, if you can imagine a citrus-tinged west coast pale blended with a bit of candied orange you’re not far off.
Maybe this won’t appeal to everyone, but Rivington are a decent brewery doing great stuff… if you haven’t tried them yet, seek their beers out!
Capping the hops off this week is Little Monster’s new Lucha Lucha DIPA, which after Neon Raptor is what I reckon will be most popular this week.
Truckloads of oats and wheat make for a beer so creamy it’s almost spreadable, then mountains of Strata, Motueka, and Amarillo combine for a dank and tropical DIPA with juicy melon.
A big, bold DIPA you can’t help but love – fresh, fun brewing from a brewery aiming for just that.
Gipsy Hill specials are back in, and that means a new Squashed!
Squashed: Pineapple, Jalapeño and Lime Sour does sound mad, but it’s basically fresh pressed pineapple juice with a big squeeze of lime, then all transferred over fresh jalapeños which add a subtle, spicy kick!
Pomona Island are back in with new stuff!
There’s a brilliant DDH Table Beer to get to know, there’s Plastic Palace Alice Sour IPA with Orange Blossom, and then there’s the best of the bunch for me – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die Wild Cherry & Blackcurrant Sour DIPA.
This gloop pours a hypnotic cherry red, and wild cherrie make for a real mouth shriveller. Blackcurrants eventually offer a sweet lifeline that, against your better judgement, makes sure you return for more and more!
Finally from our old friends Pressure Drop, there’s something a bit special about Hidden Meaning Yuzu Sour. It might be the lactose that makes things oh-so-creamy. Or it could be the Japanese yuzu for pure citrus tartness.
Most likely it’s the whole package – this is a lemon meringue pie… just in beer form!
It’s holiday season over here so we’ve been trying to limit the amount of new stuff we gather up but when the beers are this good it’s hard to resist…
There’s more in from Overtone on the sour front, with a double drop that maybe even rivals their hop bombs in terms of quality. Mellow Sun Imperial Sour’s sour citrus and sweet pineapple combine for sunshine in a can, and A Real Peach Sour is a peach smoothie of a beer.
Left Handed Giant’s new Blender Sour is a big, thick and juicy banana and pineapple smoothie with cinnamon and sweet brown sugar. Can anyone really say no?!
Left Handed Giant’s new hop drops aren’t bad either. Some Other Spring IPA is clean yet fruity, crisp yet juicy, while new-in Seven Sacred Pools IPA is gooseberry-tinged resin.
Pressure Drop’s hop drops don’t stop, this time with two NEIPAs in pineapple-heavy Donatella’s Disco Night DIPA and a restock of the popular fruity, juicy, hazy Am I Being Basic? NEIPA.
Rivington’s Very Insulting What You Said About My Coat has to be one of the best named goses ever, especially when paired with non-fruited sour You Know I Know Sour IPA.
Little Monster continue the sour charge with Let’s Dance Gose, while Hoff Lager is this week’s stand-out lager.
Elsewhere Hammerton serve up dark goodness with more City of Cake Chocolate Fudge Cake Stout, plus Wald Black Forest Gateau Imperial Stout and Pecilla Vanilla & Pecan Stout. Each is as epic as it soounds.
And finally, a couple of weeks back we sold out of Beak’s damn near perfect WCIPA Gurr. It’s now back in stock – so this time, be quick!
As always, I hope you get to try some of these magnificent beers this week.
Cheers, happy drinking, and feel free to shout if you have any questions,
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
This week saw the usual epic juicy releases from DEYA, Polly’s, Verdant, Northern Monk and whatnot. So this week’s list is going to be filled with all of them, right?
Not so!
This week’s best new brews came from far more unexpected places.
The stalwarts still reign. But, as you’ll see from the below, they’re not the only ones that know what to do they’ve got competition.
Full Circle’s Looper IPA is now recognised by many as one of the best core IPAs money can buy… so when I saw the new Dude, Where’s My Tent! NEIPA I was all over it.
In a word? Joooose!
How they’ve packed so much of it into such a simple hop combo is anyone’s guess. The magic explains why this brewery is turning so many heads.
If you haven’t tried Full Circle yet, get in now – they’ve even sent us over a summery Apricot & Peach Saison and an on-trend pilsner this week – take your pick!
Another rising star in Newtown Park smashed a new hoppy brew this week in No Going Back IPA, packed to the rafters with juicy peach, ripe mango and a sprinkle of lemon zest. A subtle bitterness also reminds you what you’re playing with.
Soft? DEYA – watch your back!
It’s a mega close call for the final top of the hops spot this week considering the slug of DEYA, Verdant and Polly’s fresh in, but I just cannot ignore how epic Kernel’s Citra & Sabro Pale is.
It’s probably going to be overlooked by hype lists which sometimes seems like that’s also what Kernel want, but serious fans will know that when Kernel start playing around with Citra and Sabro it’s a beer not to be missed.
Fruity, smooth coconut vibes, perfect carbonation, 500ml, 5.2%, £3.50!
By a long stretch, this will be the best £3.50 you spend this week!
Queer Brewing are now getting deserved praise for doing wicked things for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility – it’s about bleeding time – and let’s let it not go unnoticed that their all round awesomeness is matched by the sheer quality of their brewing.
I mean, Tiny Dots Pils is just one a hell of pilsner. Floral with a touch of spice thanks to tettnang hops, it’s a wicked beer by an ace brewery.
Get in!
Meanwhile, BBNo have bottled brilliance in 18 Farmhouse Ale: Blackberry & Blackcurrant, which is about as classy an affair as beer gets.
This is a mixed-fermentation pale that started off as a complex farmhouse pale base, then things took a turn with fresh blackcurrants and blackberries, for a hedgerow celebration.
Refreshing, complex, sexy and suave, how can you not want this in your fridge?!
And Vault City’s Havana Session Sour is back!
If you missed this first time around you’re going to need to be quick to get in on the action this time – there are 6 left in stock as I type.
You’ve got more of that biting zesty lime paired with a bucketful of fresh mint and subtle sweetness for a sour beer mojito. And if that doesn’t sway you, nothing will!
Vault really are sour kings. Veeky Chimto, by the way, ain’t bad either.
Texas-based brewery Jester King just does not mess about, largely bottling 750ml (Texas-sized!) brews so enormous we’re unable to sell them online.
Liquid Bake Sale is, for now at least, the only exception.
This is a huge, sticky, oaty impy stout laced with vanilla beans and cacao nibs all crammed into one normal(ish) sized can.
Full of brandy, chocolate fondue, rum-soaked liquorice and vanilla cookie, they won’t last long. Currently six left up for grabs!
And I’m delighted to announce that Nerdbrewing are back!
We lined our shelves with new barrel aged impys 005 and 006 this week, both are as great as ever, but Barrel Series 005 Imperial Stout is the one I beeline for – a Swedish impy oatmeal stout, aged in Heaven Hill first-fill bourbon barrels, topped off with toasted coconut that lingers and lingers. Glorious!
My final dark hat tip this week is a hugely close call. Kernel’s always bang on the money Imperial Brown Stout London 1856 could so easily have snagged it, but I’m going to go for Howling Hops Function Void Tropical Stout really cause it’s such an interesting amalgamation.
Toasty malts combo with Cryo Citra and El Dorado hops for flavours of fruit dipped in chocolate. Bootiful.
Complimenting the Kernel drop this week were Mosaic Table Beer, a Mosaic & Cascade IPA and a lovely pair of refreshing saisons in Apricotand Damson.
DEYA’s I Do This All The Time White Beer has refreshing notes of rhubarb and coriander, but saphir hops keep things spicy and complex.
Howling Hops added complexity to two new NEIPAs by dialling up their hop combos – Search Light NEIPA is loaded with Strata, Mosaic and El Dorado; Platform Contest NEIPA calls on Topaz, Citra and Amarillo for a drop that’s juicy, sticky and resinous.
New to CM brewery Ten Hands, from Sweden, hit us up with a double NEIPA drop too in Telepathic Rainbow Alligator NEIPA and Splice NEIPA. Loving the can art on these, I’m excited to have them in stock and I’m looking forward to keeping track of Ten Hands’ progress.
Flipping back to dark territory, Brew York teamed up with Swedish brewery Beersmiths to come up with Flatpack Fika Fuel Impy Milk Stout. 3kg per barrel of pecan nuts, lashings of caramel and marzipan-like tonka beans make for a sweet stout that has Brew York’s fingerprints all over it. Brew York’s refreshing Simon Le Mon Lemon Sherbert Sour couldn’t be more different.
Then there’s the heavyweights: more DEYA, more Verdant, more Polly’s, more Monk. You’re just going to have to dive in to search through their always glorious wares. Good starting off points include DEYA’s new Pale, there’s Verdant’s Lucky Slurps IPA, then there’s Polly’s High Speed Soul Australian DIPA and Northern Monk’s OFS044 Banana Mango Lassi IPA.
Burning Sky’s Rustic Table Beer is fairly low-alc; Burnt Mill used a bit of genius to de-glutenise Steel-Cut Gluten Free Pale.
Finally this week, I want to end on Big Drop, a brewery that don’t get enough love considering the quality of their wares. I’ve been a huge fan and supporter since they started – if you’re yet to get involved, think Overtone and Pressure Drop vibes, which says it all really. Their latest collab with Boxcar, Halcyon NEIPA is as juicy as you like, plus Crush session NEIPA is back, as is crowd favourite Shifty DDH pale. Get involved!
As always, I hope you get to try some of these magnificent beers this week.
Cheers, happy drinking, and feel free to shout if you have any questions,
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
This week, I’m taking a look at a big new Triple IPA from Wisconsin’s The Brewing Projekt, one of the best pilsners I’ve ever, ever had and Beak’s new “near perfect” West Coast IPA!
Before all that though, when Wiley Roots sent us a new beer called Thomas the Dank Engine, I had to check it out.
My thoughts?
Read on, read on. All will be revealed…
Colorado’s Wiley Roots delivered us six of their lines this week, including an Orange Milkshake DIPA, a Vanilla Milkshake IPA and a Chocolate Marshmallow Impy Stout, so it’s saying something that I’m highlighting Thomas The Dank Engine in particular.
But then I had no choice: this is a stand-out piney DIPA that’s as dank as they come!
Funky, green, thick and oozing resin, it deserves the name, the can art is great, if you’re going to try one Wiley Roots brew this week and you’re into your hops, give this a bash!
The Brewing Projekt are another new US brewery just in this week, again with a smorgasbord of beery deliciousness for you to choose from.
They’re the people behind the wicked Puff Tart XL Pineapple Mango and Puff Tart Raspberry/Vanilla/Guava sours, and they’re also behind two new in TIPAs, including Triple Header TIPA.
This new TIPA is smooth, it’s juicy, it’s hoppy, it’s sweet, it’s also wonderfully boozy, it really does have it all.
Our haul from Tennessee’s Southern Grist, meanwhile, was very much sour focused – and exotic sours they sure as heck were!
I mean, a Peanut Butter S’mores Sour? How does that work?!
The Mango Coconut Sour is equally as outrageous, but the Blueberry Banana Pancake Sour is my pick of the bunch.
Lactose makes this super smooth, banana brings in sweetness, the blueberries introduce tartness and then maple syrup tops things off. Superb!
Gurr is what I *think* is Beak’s first ever West Coast IPA, which has been described on Untappd as “damn near perfect”.
It holds back on the juiciness of the NEIPAs of Beak before, instead ramping up the resin to syrupy heights.
A bitter, hoppy finish lets you know what you’re dealing with.
Another Beak, another brilliant, brilliant, brilliant beer.
(Gurr’s juicy cousin, Locals IPA, is now in, too!)
Juice maybe isn’t something you’d associate with West London’s Weird Beard, but in The Manipulated Dead DIPA that’s exactly what you get.
In this amped up DIPA version of The Manipulated Living IPA, expect lashings of classic Galaxy, Amarillo, and Mosaic for big, juicy, hoppy flavours, plus oats and wheat for a smooth and delicate mouthfeel.
Pressure Drop’s 150 Friends is also fresh out the blocks and receiving rave reviews for being a perfect tropical NEIPA for summer nights.
As the name implies, get a few mates together outdoors, and crack one or two cans.
Lots of pineapple going on here, dark and rich juicy goodness.
Rothaus Pilsner is hands down one of the best pilsners I have ever, ever tried!
I’m embarrassingly late to the party here considering the Rothaus set up has been rolling for centuries, but this truly is exemplary brewing. Clean from the off which develops into a subtle bitterness, it’s got me hooked and I keep coming back time and time again.
Like everyone I’m absolutely loving rediscovering great lagers at the minute and I’m excited to have a MONSTER pallet of these sorts German/Czech style beers on the way. Until they arrive I’m on this – and you should be too!
Where Rothaus respect time-honoured brewing traditions, Yonder rips up the rulebook and still comes up good with their new Peach Peng Peach and Green Tea Sour.
It kind of sounds a bit nuts on paper but think of it as big, juicy peach sour with a subtle herbal undercurrent to make sure things don’t go overboard on the sweetness.
It’s an expert twist that makes this a summer delight.
Slim pickings on the dark front at the moment, I know.
Rest assured we have a lovely back catalogue that’s been aging nicely, stuff like Amundsen’s Coconut Choc Chip Cookie Barrel Aged Dessert in a Can and, of course, Hammerton’s Crunchier Imperial Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout Milk Stout, but on the new-in front, how does Unbarred’s latest Imperial Bueno Shake sound?
Chocolate. Wafer. Vanilla. Hazelnut. It’s a Kinder Bueno of a beer!
Watch out Amundsen, this is Unbarred’s “pudding in a can”.
On the alcohol-free front we have more Rothaus, in particular an AF hefeweizen and also a beautiful AF pilsner. (We’re ramping up our AF section right now – we’ll probably even have a load more Big Drop AF stuff online by the time you get this!)
Meanwhile SMOD have never been scared to brew just what they want, as their new Köelsch proves. A hopped up kölsch for summertime fun. Pressure Drop are also in on the lager charge with Synth Division Köln Style Beer.
Phantom’s new Blackberry & Pomegranate Sour Echoes caught my attention this week. As did Dig’s Raspberry and Madagascan vanilla sour ale. And how good does Howling Hops’ sweet apricot and guava sour Whisper Kicker sound?!
Weird Beard’s Pucker The Pain Away Peach Melba Sour is of the same ilk… with a sprinkling of vanilla to keep things sweet.
Burnt Mill prove they’re as sophisticated as ever with tropical hop-bomb Cassiopeia NEIPA, and Pressure Drop follow with their Nelson Super Pale, while Phantom’s hop contributions this week include Summer Pale and the dripping-in-pineapple Sleeping Lions IPA.
This week, of course, the imports ruled, so have a root around and see what you can find. Hop-wise, the Brewing Projekt’s Serious Business NEIPA is worth a gander, as is Gunpowder IPA, while Brix City’s Sunrise Juice Milkshake DIPA is well titled and Just Another DIPA is anything but.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, so get stuck in and see what you can unearth. It’s a goldmine over here.
As always, I hope you get to try some of these new beers this week.
Cheers & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
I write this column weekly. And truthfully, I just cannot remember the last time one week’s worth of new beer releases was so damn good!
I’m obviously going to call out my favourites in a sec. But before I do, you should know that if you get hold of any of the beers mentioned in this week’s column, you’ll be a lucky, happy person.
With that in mind, let’s begin this week with new beers from one of the best breweries in existence…
It’s The Veil. The. Veil!!!
Now this is a US brewery widely acknowledged as one of the best breweries in existence, making some of the best beers you can get your hands on… anywhere in the world!
And somehow, there are currently five (FIVE!) of their rich and decadent hop-monsters resting on our shop shelves down in South London – including 4 DIPAs and the gargantuan We We Ded Did Triple IPA.
Now these are obviously quite pricey. But – fair warning – we only have extremely limited numbers available – just 3 or 4 cans of each.
So if you want to secure one of the best of the best for your own collection, now’s your chance. My tip is the Dirt Nap³ DIPA – but I promise you will not regret the Triple IPA!
Why stop at The Veil?
In fact, can you? Can you when DEYA and Verdant have teamed up to release Buy The Ticket Take The Ride West Coast Triple IPA?
This is from two mega breweries, it’s based on a beautiful biscuit malt backbone all topped with a gooey layer of apricot jam, and it’s a West Coast Triple IPA! Have you even seen one of these before?!
An outstanding beer at the forefront of brewing.
And OK, Overtone maybe haven’t made it to the ‘forefront’ just yet, but I’d say those in the know consider Overtone just as good – and maybe even better – than your DEYAs and your Verdants.
The new citrusy and smooth Pearl Clouds Triple IPA proves as much, while Overtone’s Chufft is a Double IPA I could just sink again and again.
It’s a blitzed up fruit bowl filled with luscious pineapple and juicy ripe mango with an expert hop bitterness that just shows how good Overtone really are – get involved!
On the subject of hops, you might be interested in Full Circle Brew Co’s Annual Service Plan NEIPA.
Brewery owner Ben grew up around parents in the wine business, then made the leap to beer a bit over two years ago, and is making a name for his brewery up in Newcastle.
With stuff like Annual Service Plan it’s not hard to see why – this is citrusy dank goodness from a brewery to keep an eye on.
Vault City turned 3 the other day and decided to celebrate with FOUR new specials… and each and every one of them is absolutely phenomenal!
I reckon the most popular will be the Raspberry White Chocolate Sour – this is Vault City after all.
Deprived dark fans will flock straight to the Raspberry White Chocolate and Honeycomb Impy Stout. Meanwhile Piñita Pina Colada Session Sour will do well for obvious reasons. But then Strawberry Stars?
Seriously – look at the colour of it!
Why is it in a clear glass bottle? Because Vault have added a mad gold glitter to the mix as a ridiculous celebration. It’s bonkers – but honestly, it’s Vault doing what they do, and doing it well. Only 3 left in stock at the time of writing.
Talking of Vault City, the two new beers from Vault’s offspring Holy Goat are truly immense.
Honeybucket Sour is my pick of the two. This was split into two batches pre-fermentation. One batch fermented open. The other closed. The two were then blended back together and refermented with raw blossom honey from bees feasting on wildflowers, clover, balsam, apple and lime nectar.
A late addition of fresh foraged elderflower adds refreshment.
Serious brewing here, and it’s seriously good. (Citrus Crusher Sour isn’t half bad, either.)
On a lighter note we have Gipsy Hill’s latest Squashed: Summer Fruits Sour.
This time round it’s crammed with 240g per litre of strawberries, sour cherries and apples – summer in a glass!
Anyone up for Belgian style beers from the USA?? If so, Allagash are on hand – with North Sky Stout and a pilsner too.
Full Circle complement Annual Service Plan NEIPA with Disco Stars DIPA. Get to know the brewery by comparing the two. Add in Looper IPAand Tiny Pinch Of Magic Pineapple Sour for the full set.
As well as their collab with Verdant, hop heavyweight DEYA joined up with Floc for a clean IPA in Ever So IPA, proving IPAs need not be hazy to be full of juice.
Germany’s Frau Gruber continue to lead Germany’s craft scene with Purple Haze DDH IPA and a welcome 4.5% session IPA in Covered In Sunshine SIPA. The brewery’s FrauGruberlicious: Mango & Orange Sour is a foray into sour territory – and not a bad one either.
Pomona Island added to the sour fun this week with Monkberry Moon Delight Sour and The Lemon Of Pink pink lemonade Sour. The first is pure raspberry. The second is lemon with a touch of raspberry, and that’s the one that gets my vote.
Lager-wise, there’s a 0% lager in from Kaiserdom. The German alcohol-free specialist also hit us up with 0% Pink Grapefruit Weissbier and a 0% Hefeweizen too.
Northern Monk’s lager contribution came in the form of OFS043 India Pale Lager – a spritzy lager with the juicy refreshment of an NEIPA. Meanwhile Monk’s The Awakening DDH DIPA is hopped up to the max with a massive 38g/l of Citra, Citra Incognito, Mosaic, Sabro, El Dorado and Cryopop™. This screams tropical goodness.
There’s also a pair of hoppy beauties from Gipsy Hill in fruity Catface NEIPA and the more piney, resinous Bedrock West Coast DIPA.
And finally, what about this from Overtone? Pitaya Fruited Gose is brewed with dragon fruit, prickly pear and passion fruit, plus Indian coriander seeds and pink Himalayan sea salt for salty exotic flavours. Come on!
As always, I hope you get to try some of these magnificent beers this week. I honestly cannot remember the last time a batch of new beers has been so damn good!
Cheers, happy drinking, and feel free to shout if you have any questions!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
This week saw the return of some much loved annual brews from both Pressure Drop and Verdant.
The big talking point, however, was the two new IPAs brewed by both Verdant and Beak in collaboration.
So let’s start with them…
I know I’m cheating a bit here by including two beers, but, in fairness, these two really come as a package.
And, to be honest, do you really care?! It’s Beak! It’s Verdant! Two of pretty much EVERYONE’S favourite breweries!
And they’ve joined forces for not one but TWO special new IPAs, both of which they brewed for this year’s Hop City Festival.
These two beers are exactly the same except for one thing: More Oats IPA is 40% oats. More Wheat IPA is 40% wheat. FOUR ZERO. Huuuuge!
Both of these are insanely soft and smooth, but which is the best?! Compare, contrast and pick your winner. It’s the perfect excuse to try them both – because both of these are bleeding great
Next up, you’ve got to get in on the new Triple IPA from Pentrich.
TIPAs can obviously get pricey fast, but Hello Mr Thompson Imperial IPA is an absolute steal at £6.15.
And you’re really not sacrificing anything flavour wise as this is absolutely choc-full of Citra and El Dorado for massive citrus and tropical fruitiness.
You cannot go wrong. This is Pentrich at their best!
Meanwhile a brewery that doesn’t get nearly enough attention is Almasty, who have properly smashed it out the park with their hoppy stuff this week.
Blissfull Wizard Pale, Moby Dick IPA and Donkey Butter DDH Pale are all dripping in hops, with the best of the bunch being maybe Blissful Wizard.
Simcoe, Amarillo, Mosaic and Citra combine for a tropical, dank, resinous and sticky wonderbeer.
I’d recommend them all – get involved!
Look, it’s too hot, too sweaty and too sticky for dark beers, and there’s basically no-one brewing them right now. So what do Brew York decide to do? Only amp up their outstanding Tonkoko to imperial levels!
With Imperial Tonkoko Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Chocolate Milk Stout you get even more coconut, even more tonka, even more cacao and even more vanilla – it’s creamier, it’s sweeter and it’s more boozy than the ever before.
I mean, I’m not going to be begging for a dark beer right now, but if you’ve got this on offer…
Far more in keeping with the seasons is 360’s Berry Berry Sour, which is literally brewed for summer with all the summery flavours you’d expect – so fresh Raspberries, Blackberries and Strawberries too.
It’s not too sour and it’s not too sweet, it’s just a beautifully refreshing goldilocks gem you should def try to try before summer ends.
For those of you who can stomach the label, Almasty’s Italian Pils is actually epic. But if you just can’t bring yourself to do it yet then Drop Project / Duration’s Bloom Dry Hopped Saison is on hand as something crisp to sink.
Both are light, both are refreshing, both are the kind of clean and crisp thirst quenchers you’ll be glad you’ve got this weekend.
Before I get into the Pressure Drop & Verdant restocks, the new Neon Raptor TIPA Fenrir Breaks Free has literally just landed. I’ve not yet tried it but from the hop profile it’s clearly gonna be mega.
Talking of Neon Raptor, they’ve teamed up with Drop Project for a thing of beauty in Stay Out DIPA. Outrageous levels of Simcoe, Simcoe Cryo, Idaho 7, Azzacca and Azzaca Cryo impart tropical, pineappley, mango goodness, and oats and wheat make this super smooth.
Drop Project’s new collab with Alpha Delta, Vortex TIPA, is even bigger. Where are they hiding the 10% booze?!
Howling Hops make the fabled hop-snap above this week with Radar Station WCIPA and Wolves At The Door Pale. Wolves is the fruitier of the two, and maybe just edges things. 360’s Boomerang NEIPA is fruitier still, made using only Australian hops.
Pressure Drop. Always brilliant. Often controversial. Makers & Takers NEDIPA and Outside Over There WCIPA are new brews well worth an eyeball. The restocks? That’ll be bestselling Pale Fire, ‘armpit’ beer Escape the City NEIPA, hazy and juicy King Queen Knave New England Pale Ale and crafted-to-perfection Behind Door Number 3 NEDIPA.
This week’s Verdant restocks include There Will Be No Intervals Pale Ale, the beautiful Even Sharks Need Water IPA, sessionable People Money Space Time Pale Ale, the beer that started it all in Headband Pale, and community-serving Extra Pale Ale Lightlbulb.
Verdant’s The Future Is Uncertain DIPA, on the other hand, is new.
But with a back catalogue like that, the name seems pretty damn ironic.
I really hope you get to try some of these new beers this week.
Cheers & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
This week, let’s start with a question:
What happens when 4 of the best craft breweries in existence collaborate?
Hop City ’21 DDH IPA is what!
Below, you’ll find out what to expect. And, as usual, a few notes on the best new beers released this week.
I pretty much tucked into Hop City 2021 by accident earlier this week, nonchalantly pouring myself a cheeky tipple, and, obviously, I immediately just thought it was an absolute belter of a beer.
A proper look at the label revealed why – Hop City 2021 is brewed by not just one but FOUR of the best craft breweries in existence right now – Northern Monk, DEYA, Other Half and Zagovor – and literally one sip of this is enough for you to see all of those involved are at the very top of their game!
The experimental Yakima Chief hops CRYOPOP, Talus and HBC586 packed into this mutha leave it dripping with tropical stone fruit with twists of lime and lemon. Oh yeah, and an underlying layer of piney dank goodness.
The complete package. Get one while you can!
And talking of DEYA, their new Cerebral Reducing Valve DIPA isn’t half bad either!
Single hopped with a double helping of new HBC630 hops, it’s packed to the rafters with cherry and juicy red berries. Get in!
And then there’s Beak, a brewery crushing it at the minute with every new release, making a real name for themselves as they continue to never put a single foot wrong.
Their latest offering, Reel IPA, just so happens to be packed full of one of my favourite new hops, Talus, which means it’s full of blueberries and fruit, and it’s as soft as you can get.
Get in on Beak – everyone needs them in their life!
Track’s Daylight Scenes DIPA, meanwhile, is already close to selling out… but then from the description it’s not hard to see why!
“Imagine a freshly cut watermelon with crisp orange juice drizzled on it,” say Track. “Measure that with an absolutely insane drinkability balanced with all those vibrant summer flavours and we think you have arrived at where this beer begins.”
They’re not wrong either – there are only 5 left in stock right now so if you want to try it, be quick!
You thought I was done going on about Beak didn’t you? But no, not when they’re releasing stuff as outstanding as their new Power Vienna Lager.
My guess is this one won’t be a major seller just because it’s labelled lager, so my insider’s tip is just do not overlook this!
You get an amber lager that’s all grapefruit, marmalade, heather honey and fresh pine needles. Tempted? Seriously – give it a try.
Switching over to dark territory, Brew York’s Imp My Ride Imperial Milk Stout is as good a value impy stout as you’re ever gonna get.
7.5%, tons of chocolate, silky smooth from the lactose.
And only £4.65 a can? Yes please!
Brick’s sour brilliance continued this week too, with that cheeky little 330ml, 3.9% Guava Sour pictured above.
Conditioned on pink guava puree, this is one sour that’s all tropical papaya and juicy ripe passionfruit. It’s what we all love from our hops… but in refreshing sour form!
The hop madness continued this week, and there’s never a better place to start than with Polly’s! Their tradition of merging the hops of their best brews gone by continues with Neither Odd Or Even Pale – think Polly’s juice, squared! Angel Feed IPA, meanwhile, has loads going on thanks to late Loral hops.
Pentrich provide a couple of big guns in Plunder Underground Imperial IPA and Bright Light Movement WCIPA. The former is marmalade. The latter, crystal clear.
S43’s Nebulous NEIPA is as hazy as you can get. By comparison, Low Hanging Fruit IPA is a stone fruit explosion.
To add to the IPA and Vienna lager I’ve already mentioned, Beak hit out with Cabbit DIPA and Belief IPA. Right now, you cannot go wrong with anything Beak!
And on the subject of consistently excellent brewing, Howling Hops served up more juicy gems in Radar Station WCIPA and Wolves At The Door Pale. But their best brew for me this week is the sweet and crunchy Hit Or Miss Rhubarb Pastry Sour… a rhubarb crumble of a beer.
There’s a trio of new Alpha Delta to have a go at. For my money, Enyo NW IPA is the best.
Brass Castle cover pretty much all bases with Sunshine IPA then Pilsen Thrills Gluten-Free Pilsner and Fruit Lupe: Chinook & Grapefruit Pale and, for when the weather turns, Emergency Bitter.
Drop Project teamed up with Brick for New Tracks NEIPA, while actual Track weighed in with made-for-summer Today’s Undertaking IPA.
There’s a twister ice cream beer in Brew York’s new Ripple Twister Pale, there’s a ton of new St. Mars of the Desert selling fast – Boom Boom Koelship IPA is immense – DEYA continue their magnificence with The Whole Crew Is Bouncing IPA and Magazine Cover Session IPA, and S43’s Where’s My Cereal Bar? Imperial Oat IPA is a thick, chewy Citra explosion of a beer made with over 55% oats!
As always, I hope you get to try some of these new beers this week.
Cheers & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
This week, I’ve been particularly excited by the two new brews just in from world-renowned, rarely-ever-seen-in-the-UK, Florida-based brewery J Wakefield.
As if that wasn’t enough, this week also saw the release of Pressure Drop’s first EVER Triple IPA.
So, when you’re ready, let’s discuss the best new beers just in this week…
Just in case you don’t already know, J Wakefield are a much admired, world renowned brewery based over in Florida… and very few of their beers make it over to UK shores. So I’m ecstatic to announce that we managed to get hold of two of their wicked beers earlier this week!
Just Up The River TIPA is a 473ml can (weird American measure) of gloriously sweet murk juice. The hops here are all laden with tropical notes: rarely seen Cashmere is known for imparting an intensely exotic tropical medley; Strata, as we all know, means mango and passionfruit; and from the Galaxy you get citrus and peach. This is wonderful.
(And if sours are more your thing, we also managed to snag J Wakefield’s Aprikosenkuchen Fruited Berliner Weisse, with apricot, lactose, vanilla, almonds and cinnamon. Oh yeah!)
Great news – Pressure Drop’s first ever Triple IPA is here!
Fancy TIPA comes after a year of beer fans begging the brewery to step up. And, as always, the North London brewery have delivered!
This hop-laden TIPA is juicy, it’s fruity, it’s smooth and it has a big, boozy finish to boot.
£5.95 for a 10% Triple IPA? Yes please!
Talking of hop-laden, Polly’s Brew Co’s Hi, Everything’s Great DIPA showcases no less than seven (yep, seven!) different hop varietals – Simcoe, Mosaic, Enigma, El Dorado, Ekuanot, Citra and Columbus.
A ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ of a mega-haze bomb, this is a Polly’s beer made for those serious about their hops.
Over on the experimental front, Northern Monk’s Within And Without Raspberry & Hibiscus DIPA isn’t just a sexy can (but come on, how cool is that can art?!).
As well as the mountains of raspberry and floral hibiscus in this one, you’ve got cinnamon and sweet vanilla intermingling, all weaved into a purple-pink fruitshake made silky smooth through oats, wheat and even spelt malts.
Beautiful stuff.
Now Villages are an underrated brewery, and those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while will know all about my affection for Brick, so when Villages teamed up with Brick for Pedalo Yuzu Sour I was all over it.
A drinkable sour with a citrusy yuzu twang, this is an unsung hero that shouldn’t be sniffed at.
We picked up so much new stuff from Mondo this week that their post-visit shelves resembled a post-pandemic toilet paper aisle, and the highlight of the lot has got to be Mondo’s Melon Ball Watermelon Wheat Beer.
Just look at that name! It’s got summer all over it!
This is Mondo’s original, popular hazy, conditioned on watermelons for refreshing goodness. Get involved.
Pressure Drop’s Black Treacle Stout is a proper, grown up stout that’s rich and toasty thanks to dark roasted barley malts.
Hedgerow hops add a welcome fruity side.
Then Pressure Drop add a dollop of treacle – which rather than taking over, seems to amplify the existing profile perfectly.
Elsewhere, Siren continued to show the world how exciting a brown ale can be with their latest edition of Granola Coaster Coconut & Almond Granola Brown Ale.
Toasted coconut, a touch of spicy amburana and maple chips provide Siren’s famous granola undercurrent which, this time, includes almonds!
Rich roasted malts and mosaic hops balance the sweet side out too.
Left Handed Giant have never been shy about banging out a big, sweet, sticky, stout that most need two servings to conquer, and the 12% We Are Ghosts On The Moon Imperial Stout continues the tradition!
This big impy stout is brewed on the same malt base as LHG’s King Of The Woodland, but Honeycomb, Maple Syrup and Pecan essence turn things biscuity, decadent and rich.
‘Think of a big boozy pecan pie’, is what they say. Which, to be fair, is a pretty accurate description.
This week, we went shopping at some of our all time favourite breweries and, to be honest, we didn’t hold back!
Kicking things off with the lagers, we picked up more of the popular Lost & Grounded Helles and, while we were at it, Lost & Grounded – Keller Pils – both of which are now available online, and would work well paired with a glimmer of sunshine punching through UK cloud.
The crisp and refreshing Machina Lager from Mondo is also up there too. Mondo’s Capra Heller Bock, meanwhile, is still a lager – but way more malty, with almost a caramel tinge going on.
While dipping into Mondo’s wares we picked up the ‘perfect introduction to craft beer’ in Road Soda NEPA. Yeah, I know you’re already way past that point. Mondo’s Homing From Work IPA is probably more your thing, then.
Boxcar’s Xylophone Island IPA is more complex still. Brewed with Comet & Citra hops, think mango, grapefruit and citrus with grassy vibes. Summer’s here!
Glasshouse know as much – their pillowy soft full House pale is the perfect tangerine-tinged summer crusher. Glasshouse’s Mood Indigo IPA is more floral. And Live and Direct Pale? Well, that’s your pineapple, mango and peach fruit cocktail!
Talking of fruit cocktails, Siren’s Sold My Soul For Mosaic IPA comes with lovely ripe mango aromas backed by tropical notes, stone fruits and a touch of bitterness. Oh yeah.
Polly’s join the party with a whole host of new hoppy goodness. When To Ask Why Pale is a straight up, unfussy, clean and crisp treat. The Lights That Lead These Streets DDH IPA is more of your typical Polly’s concoction – mango, pineapple, and papaya. Then Polly’s Dream Mate Galaxy IPA is hazy, juicy, dank and pulpy.
Drop Project’s latest fruity, tropical effort is Shifty New England Pale Ale. Citrus forward, it’s more on the refreshing side of things. Drop Project’s Glare NEIPA is tropical too – but more chewy and silky
And Northern Monk’s Do Not Open Until 03.07.21 TIPA? Well, obviously, so far, nothing to report – but ask me on Saturday and I’ll have more to say!
On the sour front, Left Handed Giant’s World In Motion Fruited Gose is a sour and slightly salty tropical breakfast juice! Siren’s Peaches Everyday Fruited IPA, meanwhile, is a pink glass of peachy goodness.
Veering into experimental territory, Northern Monk’s OFS042 Michelada is a bloody Mary/lager mash up. Rumours are it cures hangovers. I’m not so sure, but it sounds bleeding lovely.
Pressure Drop’s This Is Classic TV Cherry Sour is sure to please sour fans.
News that Boxcar’s Dark Mild is back in will definitely please those into darker stuff.
While we’re on dark beers, Siren’s Bones Of A Sailor Imperial Porter is rich, robust and chocolatey with spices and with rye.
Aaaaand how about a white chocolate and coffee boozy nesquik milkshake? Siren’s Invisible Deck Nitro White Stout offers just that!
As always, I hope you get to try some of these new beers this week.
Cheers & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
Since their inception in 2014, Other Half Brewing have gained a reputation as one of the kings – if not THE King – of New York’s beer scene…
These guys squeeze so much juice from their hops most other brewers simply watch with their jaws on the floor, applauding the brilliance Other Half come out with.
And, after sourcing not 1, not 2, but 12 Other Half lines this week, I can personally testifies the hype is justified. So, kicking things off this week, I can reveal my personal favourite is…
My personal favourite of the Other Half brews that dropped this week is the DDH Broccoli Imperial IPA.
So much pineapple balanced by beautiful bitterness, it’s glorious, but seriously, all the new Other Half brews are on another level.
I can’t recommend them enough and hope you get to try them while they’re fresh!
That’s not to say there isn’t brilliance to be lapped up elsewhere this week – starting with the Cheltenham masters that are DEYA!
Glory Days Are Over DIPA is some kind of ironic joke cause it’s packed full of Simcoe and Idaho-7 for a juicy tropical party.
Plus, tons of new Verdant just hit our shelves!
Laps is back, as is People Money Space Time, there’s the new Light Bulb and a couple of new brews to choose from too – the most popular being See Food And Dance IPA.
Mosaic and Galaxy are a match made in heaven, making this seriously fruity and dank. You have to wonder how Verdant have managed to pack so much flavour into such a light beer.
Then there’s the wicked new 90’s wresting series just in from Brew York!
Each of the 4 in the series is brewed with Yakima Chief’s new Cryo Pop hops, which amp up the character of any existing hop pairings. Hell yeah!
So you’ve got the purely Cryo Pop Big Poppa Pump, you’ve got Scotty Too Hoppy(Idaho-7), there’s Sweet Chinook Music (Chinook), and – the best of the lot in my book – huge hits of stone fruit, coconut and tropical fruit in the Thundertaker (Talus).
Collect the whole set!
Over on the sour front, is there no limit to what Overtone can do?
Seriously, it’s not even funny anymore. I could big up any of their new releases this week – El Hefe Hefeweizen is great – but seeing as I have to limit myself it’s Choco Berry Fluff Pastry Sour I’m going to bang on about.
Packed with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, on appearance alone you’d think this bright purple gloop was a healthy berry smoothie, but then there’s cacao, vanilla pods and vegan marshmallow to sweeten things up. An absolute gem.
Meanwhile, Gun Hill are a new-to-CM brewery also from New York, and the two Berliner Weisse’s we’ve snagged are beauts.
Guavalicious Berliner Weisse is full of guava and apricot, with milk sugar adding sweetness to what’s otherwise a properly sour beer.
While we can’t really travel at the minute, Northern Monk continue to bring exotic beers to us with their OFS series, and OFS041 Chilli-Lime Mango Sour is a proper celebration of the flavours of Mexico.
Sour, citrusy and, yep, spicy, this chilli-lime mango sour is wicked stuff.
Northern Monk’s Death is back!
And in this year’s version, they really aren’t messing about, pushing the mouthfeel into silky smooth territory with flaked oats, all while keeping the thing oozing with decadent dark chocolate on top of a malty biscuit base.
It’s a 12%, 440ml can of pure indulgence!
And as I mentioned before, there seems to be no limit to what Overtone can do, as Twisted Sense Barrel Aged Imperial Stout testifies.
This has smooth, rich dark coffee seeping throughout, with the Scotch whisky barrels it ages in adding caramel, biscuits and almonds – all the lovely stuff you get from good whisky – and a subtle peaty smokiness too.
Hops were once again the name of the game this week. Northern Monk treated us to their latest version of Glory TIPA – dank tropical loveliness, as you’d expect.
Wylam’s Pay No Heed to the Drongos IPA is a NZ IPA – so think gooseberries, peach and grape.
Talking of Heed, By the River’s famous Heedhunter Pale is now available fresh in cans for the first time ever!
BBNo deserve a mention for their new 05 IPA which showcases experimental new season hop HBC 472. The futuristic hop gives this beer refreshing notes of coconut, mint and vanilla – not your usual run-of-the-mill IPA.
And of course, Polly’s! They keep making em, I keep getting em. Mood Swings DDH Pale might be soft and smashable… but at 5.5%, is it really sessionable, Polly’s?! Own up! Elsewhere, Bubble Dream IPA is a rebrew of the Polly’s beer that was so popular back in lockdown 1.0.
Then there’s the small matter of Overtone’s latest TIPA and DIPA. If you’re not already on the Overtone train, you need to get involved!
Steady Rolling Man is back. DEYA’s Something Good is 14. There’s Brew York’s new West Coast IPA, a session pale from DEYA, and an interesting Export Kellerbier from Utopian.
And even though it’s not the season, you might wanna take a look at this candied orange, toffee and panetone DEYA/Box Car Barley Wine.
As always, I hope you get to try some of these new beers this week.
Cheers & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
The sun is finally with us!
So it’s time to start talking for craft summer quenchers.
Luckily, the country’s best craft brewers released a few gems this week.
Hops, sours and even a summer stout. Here are the best new beers just in this week.
I’ve gotta start this list with the new Polly’s pale, Hello Euphoria.
It’s not the usual Polly’s heavy hop-fest – it’s lighter, more drinkable and lovely and soft. Crack this for a brilliant balance of all the juicy new school notes we’re all loving right now with punchy pine from a generous dose of Centennial hops.
Lovely stuff, best paired with sun.
The latest in Track’s much lauded and staggeringly popular Gold Top series is here too, and it continues to make the critics rave.
Just Forever Gold Top DIPA is sweet mango and pineapple with a big slice of juicy melon on the side. It’s thick, it’s creamy, it’s juicy; its everything you’d expect from a Gold Top Track DIPA. And by that I mean it’s effing brilliant.
Elsewhere, with everyone else coming out with summer thirst quenchers, Pomona Island characteristically ripped up the rulebook by releasing Pouring Lizards Rye IPA.
This is actually a DEYA collab, so the quality is pretty much guaranteed. It’s sticky, it’s jammy, it’s fruity… if that’s your bag, get involved!
On the sour front, Boxcar have come out with wicked new a fruit smoothie of a sour in Tropic Blush Mango, Cherry & Coconut Sour that will have sour fans everywhere overjoyed.
Juicy sour cherries and bright mangos are front and centre and the whole thing is expertly balanced by a lovely sweet coconut dusting.
This the kind of sour you can imagine sipping on a tropical island somewhere… and imagining is about as close as you’ll get to being there as things stand.
Brew York also delivered something a bit special on the sour front this week via the very cherry sour Kirsch Russell Cherry Pie Pastry Sour.
The brewers poured a massive 750kg of cherry juice into this mutha, so it smacks of the cherry, cherry, and a bit more cherry too. A wicked deep purple in colour and pours like thick Ribena. 6.5%.
Dark fans will want to check out Pomona Island/Northern Monk collab Cancion Mixteca Imperial Churro Stout this week, filled as it is with sweet burnt sugar, chocolatey cacao nibs and a delicate touch of cinnamon.
It might not be right for sunshine… but trust me, this is exactly what you want when the temperature drops.
Neon Raptor’s Fake Hands – brewed with roasted pecans and cacao nibs from Luisa’s Vegan Chocolate – is roasty, it’s malty, it’s chocolatey, it’s vegan.
Neon know how to do dark, and Fake Hands proves it!
There’s so much hoppy goodness going on this week, Drop Project’s Haze NEIPA deserves your attention. On the face of it it’s your down the line juicy NEIPA… but then a late smattering of yuzu juice dials up the tangy citrus.
Burnt Mill’s Free Surface NEIPA seesaws between tropical and dank, Pomona Island’s Lervig collab Is Something Brilliant Happening? TIPA is our latest big-hitting TIPA, and there’s new Polly”s in the form of Sonar Bamboo IPA and the latest cult hit Patternist IPA.
Boxcar are out with their new soft and smooth Wellspring session IPA (£5.50), and there’s alcohol free offerings from Lowtide (a pils) and To Øl.
S43’s Guava & Lychee Gose is a winner, you’ve got Fruit Sting from St Mars of the Desert, you’ve got Neon Raptor’s Vanilla Weisse, SMOD also treat us to the latest craft lager and Brew York’s new saison caps off a hard day’s work.
Oh, and Brew York’s new dark Honey, I Shrunk The Impys! Honeycomb & Oatmeal Stout? It’s a stout fit for summer with added honeycomb.
As always, I hope you get to try some of these new beers this week.
Cheers & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Step 1
We trawl the globe tasting great beer
