SUMMER OF LAGER

Tasting notes
Lervig Aktiebryggeri
BETTY BROWN (4.7 )
A rich, autumnal beer from Norway’s fabulous Lervig
brewery
Roosters
BABY-FACED
ASSASSIN (6.1 )
A canned IPA of two halves
Saltaire Brewery
IMPERIAL IPA (9.5 )
A bold, brazen and big-hearted beer in the way the
hop character shines in the glass
Keswick Brewing Co
THIRST GOLD (3.6 )
A gold standard beer and it slakes your thirst
Farmhouse IPA, Lervig’s collaboration with Magic
Rock was the standout beer of 2014 for me. Mike
Murphy, Lervig’s Philadelphia-born head brewer
knows his way around a dark beer having created the
stunning Beer Geek Breakfast with Mikkeller. From
the nicely retro-labelled bottle this pours a nearly
opaque copper with a tight beige head. You’re straight
into a rich caramel sweetness which gently slides into
a pleasing and distinct autumnal nuttiness. A subtle
backbone of Pacific Gem hops and hints of whisky,
sherry and vanilla roll around the palate, along with
notes of rye sourdough bread. Protip: Usually I’d
rather drink beer than cook with it, but this a real
winner added to a slow cooker when making pulled
pork. TenInchWheels / lervig.no
This bold, colourful, vividly flavoured IPA is a
case of yin and yang as citrus orange, juicy mango
and passion fruit juice notes leap out into the air,
acrobatic and assertive, lubricious and luscious, to
be balanced against a bracing bitterness and a grainy
dryness in the finish. This is a beer in which the
Citra hop shines with all its glorious aromatic might
and it deserves your full attention when it comes to
drinking it (thinking about a dish on the side will
only get in the way of the beer). Try this in a can (or
you might want it from a cask) and watch how it
turns a commonplace, everyday day into an IPA day
(and given that Roosters make their mighty beers in
Knaresborough we could be talking about a Yorkshire
IPA day). ATJ / roosters.co.uk / Buy from ABM, BH
What is an Imperial IPA? Easy answer: it’s a beer
swaggering about, noisy and cocky in its hop
confidence, but it’s also about being friendly and
knowing; no one likes a bully and this special Saltaire
release is a exemplary Imperial IPA. There’s aniseed,
malt sweetness and citrusy orange on the palate; these
are big movements of flavour, continental drifts, a
fascinating interplay between the aniseed-like notes,
the malt, the citrus, the chewy texture, the pleasing
alcoholic fieriness, some orange pith and a retro-nasal
whiff of fresh tea leaves, and then a big deep dive
into a pool of bitterness and dryness all of which fit
together as neatly as a master craftsman’s dry-stone
wall high up on the Dales close to where this beer is
brewed. ATJ / saltairebrewery.co.uk
I was in Keswick recently and drinking this excellent
ale with a German chap and I think it converted
him to British beer. (Actually he preferred the
slightly darker, chestnut coloured Thirst Session
3.7%, which has a slight malty aftertaste.) Keswick
Head ‘Brewster’ Sue has a range of beers from 3.6%
to a 7% IPA. Thirst Gold is a light, bright, golden
colour and just looking at it cheered me up. But this
is a beer made for quaffing, its gentle hoppy aroma
combined with a subtle clean bitterness and a very
slight undertone of citrus make it a fabulous session
beer. Essentially this beer is a no frills refreshing drink
and moreish, just as a good beer should be. Sup it cool
on a warm summer evening, al fresco if possible. Alan
Hinkes / keswickbrewery.co.uk
Boulevard TANK 7 (8.5 )
A spinning, thrilling Innovative Belgian US saison rye beer from – you’re one of Bristol’s in Kansas leading now
1 8
breweries
It’s American saison time as a whirling Wurlitzer of
aromatics emerge out of the glass: sour, farmyardlike,
the smell of fresh hay alongside a crystalline
sweetness that makes things a lot more enjoyable
that you’d expect it to be. There’s also an iron-like
firmness, metal warming in the sun, plus white
Left Hand Brewing Fourpure Brewing Co
NITRO STOUT (6 ) PILS (4.7 )
‘Pour hard’ for this bottled milk stout from the US
masters Left Hand
A fantastic example of the depth a lager can have, and
all the sweeter it can now be bought in Marks & Sparks
The texture is like wrapping your tongue in a velvet Rejoice! For those of us who don’t live in the larger
glove, the flavour is a rich, creamy hot chocolate with urban conurbations, the excellent service of online
a drop of espresso, and the whole experience is a joyful retailers is our touch point with the beer world.
one. There’s even a hint of drama: ‘Pour Hard’ is the Yet, bit by bit, we’re seeing the welcome infiltration
advice on this bottled Nitro version of Left Hand’s of brilliant beers in supermarkets. Waitrose, Tesco
classic beer. It is topped up with nitrogen rather than and now Marks & Spencer are stocking great beers
CO2 and the difference between the Nitro and the including Buxton, Camden Town and this complex
normal one is in the size of the bubbles. This pitch Pils from Fourpure. There’s a light sweetness on the
black stout has a thick head once settled, like whipped nose, maybe honey, but it’s not until you’ve taken
cream, and the luscious mouthfeel swirls around a good swig that the bitterness and pepperiness of
covering the tongue in an increasingly complex attack the classic Saaz and Mittelfruh. It’s a showcase, as
of indulgent nuances. This Nitro clearly makes it a those mentioned from page 9, of the depth of flavor
smoother drink, and after dinner it’s perfect. Some a pilsner can have, and best of all I no longer have to
may prefer the little more roughness in the original lug a six-pack down from London. By the time this
version, but this is a event of a beer.
publication is in your hands, there’ll be a dry hopped
DN / lefthandbrewing.com
version too. DN / fourpure.com / Buy from ABM,
pepper. Amidst all these earthy, spicy heroics, there’s
a softness on the palate, comfortable and lullaby-like,
reminiscent of bubblegum, pineapple and rhubarb, a
boiling sweetness of confection kept in line by a stick
of feathery sourness; a herbal peak mid-palate brings
to mind cough lozenges, all of these flavours swirling
Bears Brewery
LONDON KNIGHT (6.7 )
One rich and lucious, one clean and crisp... oh and
very low sugar – two lagers from newcomers Bears
Unusually, we’re hitting up two lagers in one review:
one rich, velvety, full of life, the other sprightly, mildly
smoky and containing almost no sugar. Bear Brewery
have an interesting proposition: apparently the lowest
sugar content beer in the UK, plus a range Czech
and Slovak beers. Nimmitha the founder of Bear’s
Brewery, loves beer, but sugar hates him. His answer?
Get his beer own low sugar beer brewed (0.3g per
100ml). The result is a bone-dry, crisp lager. London
Knight however, is all honey, spice, sweetness –
candyfloss at a fairground. It has the caramel richness
of Brooklyn Lager, and a velvetiness of tiny bubbles
you get from the flat white. “I would buy a lot of this,”
one Team O/G member said. There’s a joyful will to
this outfit, full of passion and this shines through with
their beer. DN / bear-brewery.co.uk
about like Dorothy on her way out of Kansas (where
Boulevard brew). At 8.5%, this is a big beer, whose
fatness of alcohol, alongside all the aromatics and
flavours, would see it ask a creamy, stinky blue cheese
out for a date with no fear of dismissal.
ATJ / boulevard.com
Wild Beer Co (4.5 )
WILD GOOSE CHASE
This lively beer is full of the tastes and aromas of an
English hedgerow in summer
The Wild Beer Company make a claim to put a ‘wild’
ingredient into every one of their brews - in this
case the allotment staple and stodgy pud favourite,
gooseberry. It pours from the can a pale sunrise yellow/
green with a big pillowy head. A zip of sherbet gives
way to rolling, spritzy dollops of - yes - gooseberry,
with hints of lemon pith, elderflower and freshly-cut
meadow after gentle summer rain. It’s like the English
landscape in a glass. You can practically hear Vaughan
Williams’ The Lark Ascending as you take a swig. All
this rambles on to a huge fruity finish with a tickle
of salty tartness. Refreshing and unusual. Perhaps
a Saison for the drinker who – like me – wouldn’t
usually reach for one.
TenInchWheels
/ wildbeerco.com / Buy from ABM