With the help of the very nice man I chose three beers to take the journey across the ocean. I wanted more but stopped at three when the conversation in my head became "what clothes could I throw away to make room for more beer....."
A good friend of mine is the Brewmaster and Beer manager for Cypress Street in Atlanta, obviously I had to share them with him. So last night.... we had a tasting.
BEER ONE
Brewery: The Kernel, London, England
Beer We Tasted: IPA - Chinook, Amarillo, Nelson Sauvin hops
The Kernel is a brewery in the Bermondsey area of London (southeast). They opened their brewery in 2009 and have quite often been hailed as "the best brewery in London." I'm super jealous/sad/annoyed/happy (a range of emotions) that I just now learned about the actual brewery, but the next time I'm in London, I am on a Kernel mission. Kind of dying to try their Centennial Pale Ale and their Export India Porter.
The first thing you notice about the IPA we tried is the beautiful color on the beer- the golden hue looks inviting and well-crafted. And the taste? Delicious. Clean, precise, and crisp. You taste grapefruit from the Amarillo hops- not the fruity, tart part of the fruit, but the pith which aids in creating the lingering bitterness signature to their beers. The bitterness smooths out and leaves a lovely taste in your mouth. Sessionable. 5.8%.
BEER TWO
Brewery: Dark Star, West Sussex, England
Beer We Tasted: Green Hop
Dark Star is about an hour and half south of London, near Brighton. It began as a tiny brewing adventure in the basement of a pub in 1994. By 2001 their beers were so popular they set up a proper brewery in Ansty and eventually grew into the location they have now. Which may or may not have been decorated by Banksy.
We tasted their Green Hop. I LOVED this beer, however this is not for everyone. It is a big IPA brewed with Simcoe hops which have an earthy, piney flavor to them, but what makes this beer so amazing are the fresh green hops they put in the batch after fermentation.
When you open Green Hop the floral scent is almost overwhelming, in a fantastic way. It smells like a garden in the summer and the color is that perfect golden hue. The taste is actually quite different. It's IPA bitter then super smooth, with a quick floral hint on the front of your sip, but remarkably the only massive floral aspect to the beer is the nose. I could drink this all day. Loved. 6.5%
BEER THREE
Brewery: Oakham Ales
Beer We Tasted: Citra
Oakham Ales (forgive their bad website) is located in Peterborough, England about 2 hours north of London in the largest brewpub in England. Their beers have won award after award and they've grown from a small brewery to a large brewery and a beer distributor for European beers into the UK.
The beer I brought home was the Citra, American Pale Ale (APA). Again, loved.
This beer is a single-hop brew with only Citra hops. Oakham were "the first UK Brewery to commercially the first brewery in the UK to brew with Citra back in 2009." Now the beer is a permanent fixture in their selection winning two Gold in the International Beer Challenge 2011 and 2012. It is clean and refreshing. The bottle says "A light refreshing beer with pungent grapefruit, lychee and gooseberry aromas leading to a dry, bitter finish" and I wholeheartedly agree. The lychee fruit taste is unusual for Americans, not a fruit we consume a lot of here, but it's refreshing. The beer is in no way sweet, it is definitely hop-driven, and I love the malty aftertaste. If I was in a pub and this was on draft.... watch out people.
I hope you have been inspired to travel to England for your own personal beer journey. If you do go, check out The Rake near London Bridge or The Cask Pub and Kitchen in Pimlico both of which have amazing selections of craft beer. It's not many places you can get craft beer in pubs in England as most of the pubs are owned by the massive breweries, so do some exploring and find a gem.
Happy Drinking!!
No comments:
Post a Comment