Monday 21 March 2011

Some Like It Hop!

As you can see, it's one for the hopheads!
Following up on a twonversation the other day, or maybe it's a convertitter, I just wanted to throw a little bit of advice out there for all you hopheads - if you like it hop then drink it young! 


The person I was chatting with had been deeply disappointed with some Three Floyds beers because they had a) come from the States in unknown shipping conditions and b) were well past their sell-by date and so had lost so much of their huge floral/citrus/bitter excitement.


Neither of these things was the brewery's fault, as they don't have an official export deal with the UK I'm aware of, but it's something for all your Humulus lupulus addicts out there to think on!


And whilst I've got you hopheads on board, I should tell you that I had the great privilege the other evening to drink a Sierra Nevada Hoptimum, which you should start seeing at various places around the UK soon including, I believe, the White Horse's Over the Hop Festival on over May Bank Holiday weekend - and I'm sure the Rake/Utobeer, Cask & the Euston Tap will probably have some too!


Onto the beer itself, it has a lovely pink grapefruit & peach nose, a rich burnt caramel middle on the palate and the bitterness at the end is like an under-ripe apricot, which mellows into a slightly soy-like satisfyingly rich finish.


And for those of you who care about such things, the bitterness is just on the cusp of being wrong, which makes it utterly, deliciously, right! And it was awesome with my really quite spicy beef curry too.

3 comments:

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating said...

sounds lovely. Can't beat american beers for big hop bite.

I wrote about another Sierra Nevada Beer in my most recent post. Their Torpedo Extra IPA and how it lacks the balance and subtlety of a Marble IPA I tried!

Have a read and let me know what you think!

matthew turner said...

Ohhhh I just brought myself a bottle of Hoptimun a week or two back from Beer-ritz. I've been saving it for a special evening but I may now crack it open sooner :D

Reuben Gray - TaleOfAle said...

I should be picking up some tonight so looking forward to it.