Prime Time Session IPA

Prime Time brew low calorie beer that's only 95 calories per can but you really can't tell that this is a low calorie beer at all.  It's also gluten free and vegan

It pours a beautiful golden colour with a frothy, robust off-white head that disperses slowly to leave a patchy foam layer.  The aroma is quite light but I could smell citrus fruit and hops. 

The flavour is stronger than the smell and the hops/citrus balance definitely swings more towards hops.  I'm not a huge fan of too much citrus as it can be a bit too pithy so this more hoppy version of an IPA is right up my street.  It's well carbonated and has a thin body, as you would expect for an IPA.

It's a very crisp, dry and refreshing beer that's very easy to drink and you don't have to worry about the calories.  As it's heavy on the hops, it tastes more like a premium lager than an IPA to me (which is where it lost marks on my score sheet) but I liked it so Ale Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by The Innovative Brewing Co, London
4.2% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Prime Time

BrewDog Hoppy Xmas

Christmas time is here again and you can always count on BrewDog for a festive beer. 

Hoppy Xmas is a festive IPA and it's very lively so it took me a couple of pours to fit it all in my 330ml glass.  It pours a slightly hazy golden yellow with a tight, thick, robust off-white head that lasts and laces.

The aroma is deliciously fruity with notes of lemon, orange and tropical fruit as well as the expected blast of hops.  It tastes like it smells with a lovely blend of citrus and tropical fruits and hops that give it a lovely dry/bitter finish.   The pineapple and papaya flavours add a note of sweetness that takes the pithy bitter edge off the citrus.

It has a good medium body and it’s very well carbonated, as you can see from the head, but the bubbles aren't harsh and they give the tongue a nice tickling.  

I don't think there's anything particularly festive about it apart from the name, but it's a lovely IPA that's just the right level of bitterness for me.  Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by BrewDog, Ellon, Aberdeenshire 

6% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4/5

Find out more at BrewDog Brewery

Siren Soundwave

 

The tropical fruit notes burst out of the can as soon as you open Siren's Soundwave IPA.  It's a sweet smell that reminded me of pineapple cube sweets and there's a little floral hint too.  It's a bright golden yellow IPA that looks very inviting with its small, frothy off-white head.  The head dissipates to leave a thin, patchy layer.

The taste is predominantly tropical fruit too  but it's quite a complex flavour with an initial hit of hops, followed by sweet tropical fruits and finishing on delicious bitter notes.  The body is quite thin and carbonation is surprisingly low so it has a bit of a strange flat feeling, rather than a smooth mouthfeel.

It's a lovely tropical and hoppy IPA that's the perfect blend for someone like me, who's not a fan of too much citrus bitterness.  I loved the sweet tropical notes and it's very refreshing.  It's one for the summer I think and Ale Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Siren Craft Brew, Finchampstead, Berkshire
5.6% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Siren Craft Brew

Grounding Angels Good Vibrations

This is a hazy golden yellow beer with a loose, rapidly disappearing off-white head.  There is a lot of sediment in this one, despite a careful pour.

It smells like a fruit cocktail with notes of mango, guava, pineapple and grapefruit.  Grapefruit is the predominant taste but it's not overly bitter at first, however, it does leave quite a pithy aftertaste.  Underneath the grapefruit there's a slightly floral note with hints of mango.  It's well carbonated with a thin body and it has a spicy and dry finish. 

This beer has a bit of everything: it's fruity, spicy, floral, dry and bitter.  I just found the amount of sediment to be very off-putting and I really don't like seeing bits in my glass so unfortunately, Ale not Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Grounding Angels Brew Co, Hexham, Northumberland
4% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Grounding Angels Brew Co

BrewDog Nanny State

 

As you can tell by the fact that I blog about it, I love real ale but drinking too much of it makes me look like a beer barrel.  So these days, I'm turning more and more to low or zero alcohol beers when I fancy a beer.  Whilst a lot of alcohol free beers taste like beer flavoured spring water, BrewDog's Nanny State is one of the best I have tasted.  It actually tastes like a craft beer, albeit a weak and thin-bodied one, but you can't really expect it to taste like a 6% full-bodied ale because it isn't.

Brewed with Centennial, Amarillo, Columbus, Cascade and Simcoe hops, Nanny State is a lovely malty, hoppy ale with a bitter citrus finish.  The flavour is like a cross between an IPA and a bitter as you've got a hint of citrus as well as a delicious maltiness.  It's thin-bodied and a little watery but with only 20 calories per can, I'm happy to lose a bit of body to have a guilt-free beer.

Currently, a pack of 24 cans is £24.95 from Amazon (or £4.00 + delivery for 4 cans from BrewDog) so at just over £1 per 330ml can, it's not the cheapest alcohol-free beer around but it might very well be the best.  It looks and tastes like a craft beer and it's so moreish and so low in calories that you don't feel bad having just one more.

Brewed by BrewDog Brewery, Ellon, Aberdeenshire
0.5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at BrewDog Brewery

BrewDog 5AM Saint

 

It's a bunch of fives from BrewDog with their American red ale 5AM Saint: 5% ABV, 5 malts and 5 hops (actually 6 but I like the pattern they're going for).  Doesn't it look stunning?  It's a beautiful slightly opaque red/brown colour with a small, loose cream coloured head that vanishes quite quickly.

There's nothing subtle about the aroma with a huge hit of malt, caramel and orange marmalade citrus so I couldn't wait to dive in.  With a wonderful mixture of malts and hops, this really tingles the tastebuds.  Sweet malts and caramel make are followed by a bitter citrus tang but these conflicting flavours are seamlessly woven together on a biscuit base.  

The only thing that lets it down is the body.  It has a very watery mouthfeel and relatively low carbonation so it feels quite light despite the amazing flavours.  With a bit more body and a longer lasting head this would have been a five star beer without doubt.  I'd still have another one, so Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by BrewDog Brewery, Ellon, Aberdeenshire
5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4.25/5

Find out more at BrewDog Brewery

BrewDog Clockwork Tangerine

There are a lot of fruit infused beers around at the moment and I find them lovely and refreshing, so let's see what I thought of Clockwork Tangerine, the citrus session IPA from BrewDog.

This pours a beautiful deep golden or light amber with a lovely orange hue.  If it didn't have the frothy cream coloured head, you could almost mistake it for a glass of Irn Bru.

I was expecting a huge whiff of tangerine when I popped the lid off the bottle but instead got more of a light hoppy aroma.  It does have a hint of tangerine when it develops but if I wasn't looking for it I wouldn't really have noticed it.

On to the taste and there is a definite flavour of tangerine, although it isn't overpowering, coupled with hops and caramel.  The tangerine hint adds an initial bit of sweetness followed by a bitter pithy aftertaste.  The bitterness lingers slightly too long for my liking and builds up over time, turning into more of a grapefruit than orange citrus.  It's fizzy but a bit thin-bodied and watery, but that's what you'd expect in an IPA.

Crisp and dry, there's a little too much pithy bitterness to be refreshing but I have to applaud BrewDog for getting the tangerine flavour absolutely spot on.

Brewed by BrewDog, Ellon, Aberdeenshire

4.5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.75/5

Find out more at BrewDog Brewery

Tiny Rebel Peaches and Cream

Award winning Welsh brewers, Tiny Rebel, are well known for inventive and original beers.  If you like your beer to taste of beer, then Tiny Rebel aren't for you but if you like something new and different then they're right up your street,

I set out on my Tiny Rebel journey with a can of Peaches and Cream that I bought from Block & Bottle in Gateshead (before they moved over the Tyne to Newcastle).  

As soon as you crack open the can there is no mistaking that this a peach flavoured beer; the smell of sweet peaches really couldn't be more peachy if it was an actual peach itself.  It does smell absolutely amazing; it's like a cross between a bowl of freshly cut peaches and an old fashioned peach melba (when they were orange instead of yellow).  Could it BE more peachy?

When it is poured it is a hazy yellowy orange colour with an amazing tight and frothy cream coloured head.  This is the best head I have ever seen on an IPA; it lasts right to the end and clings to the sides of the glass in foamy clumps.

I have to admit to being a little nervous as I moved in for my first sip.  It smells so intensely peachy that I worried it would be more of a peach juice than a beer but Tiny Rebel sure know what they're doing.  It's not as strongly peach flavoured as I expected, but the peach flavour is definitely there along with a creaminess that I can only describe as clotted cream ice cream.  

The sweet fruit flavour makes it a very refreshing drink and the added cream flavour makes it feel rich and decadent like a very special treat.  It's medium bodied and well carbonated but feels oddly smooth due to the creaminess.

Tiny Rebel have really hit it out of the park with this one; it's absolutely divine and I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for it being brewed again.  It is exactly what it says on the tin so steer clear if you don't like peaches.  I'm counting this as 1 of my 5 a day so Ale definitely be Seeing Peaches and Cream again!

Brewed by Tiny Rebel Brewing, Newport, Wales
5.5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4.5/5

Find out more at Tiny Rebel Brewing

Original Stormtrooper Galactic Pale Ale

May the force be with you

My second beer review for Star Wars Day is this Galactic Pale Ale from The Original Stormtrooper.  I bought this one from the amazing House of Trembling madness in York before I picked up the gift pack with glass from B&M.

This pale ale pours a traditional deep golden yellow colour with a tight off-white head.  The head holds surprisingly well for a while before dispersing to a thin foam.  The aroma isn't terribly strong but it is mainly hops, biscuit and straw with a hint of orange citrus and honey.

Moving on to the taste which disappointingly isn't that strong either.  I could only really taste hops and honey before getting a dry and bitter aftertaste.  A weak taste coupled with soft carbonation and a thin almost watery body meant it wasn't an out of this world experience at all.  It took me a while to drink it and I found that the flavour does develop slightly over time into more of a bitter which I liked.

I honestly thought I would have preferred the Galactic Pale Ale to the Lightspeed Pilsner but the pale ale was just a bit too weak on flavour for me.  Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad beer but it only just scrapes a 4 pint rating, sitting right on the fence with a score of 3.5 out of 5.

Brewed by St Peter's Brewery, Suffolk
4.2% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5

Find out more at The Original Stormtrooper

Brewdog Dead Pony Club

A stunning crystal clear light amber ale with a substantial frothy beige head that laces down the glass.  It has an absolutely mouthwatering aroma of oranges with a hint of grapefruit; I could quite easily close my eyes and imagine that I was walking through an orange grove...with a grapefruit or a can of Lilt.

I was pleasantly surprised with my first sip; I expected a huge citrus burst but instead the citrus flavour is quite subtle in the form of a tropical fruit burst after the initial sublime malty taste.  The carbonation is slightly on the harsh side and, coupled with the fruitiness and a hint of floral spiciness, it results in a pleasant tongue tingling.  Although quite thin in body, it wakes up my taste buds without feeling as if they've been tasered.

Dead Pony Club is a perfect sunny day beer as the fruitiness is so refreshing and the ABV is quite low at 3.8%.  I really enjoyed it and although I'm not usually a pale ale fan, Ale Be Seeing You Again Dead Pony Club.

Brewed by Brewdog, Ellon, Aberdeenshire

3.8% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Brewdog

Samuel Adams Rebel IPA

There was quite a lot of sediment in the bottle so it was a slow and careful pour in order to retain the clarity of the beer.  It's a traditional looking golden yellow ale with a tight and frothy off-white head.  There is a strong citrus aroma but rather than it being too acidic, the edge is taken off with an underlying buttery hoppiness.

Soft and feather-like on the tongue, there is an initial sweetness followed by a lovely bitterness that isn't overpowered by citrus.  I was really surprised by the taste as I expected a full citrus blast but it's the complex mix of hops that results in an initial crisp and refreshing taste that lingers into the aftertaste to counteract the citrus bitterness.

So easy to drink with a head that lasts to the end leaving impressive lacing, I would definitely have it again despite IPA not being my preferred ale.

Ale happily Be Seeing You Again, Rebel IPA.

Brewed by Samuel Adams, Boston and imported by Shepherd Neame, Kent

6.5% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Samuel Adams

Allendale Double IPA

If tropical fruit is your thing then this beer is for you!  I think you can tell it is a citrus fruity beer from the cloudy golden yellow appearance and it has quite an impressive tight off-white head that lasts and laces.

It smells strongly of tropical fruit and is actually quite refreshing as the aromas of pineapples and lemons make me think of distant shores.  The taste, however, isn't totally tropical but is more grapefruit overload for me.  It is very very VERY bitter and the grapefruit flavour takes over to the point where that's all I could taste.

Very fizzy and very bitter, it wasn't my kind of beer and Ale not be Seeing You Again.

Brewed by Allendale Brewery, Northumberland

7.4% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Allendale Brewery

Three Kings Brewery Canadien Red

I popped into The Exchange in North Shields for a coffee but I was like a kid in a sweet shop when I saw all the local hand pulls on offer.  I went from tempted to sold in 0-60 seconds when I saw a red ale was among the brilliant selection.  Each pump had a little kilner jar of ale in front of it so you could see the colour of the ale, but obviously I wasn't going to go for anything other than the Canadien Red from Three Kings Brewery.

The first thing I noticed, after the mouthwatering ruby red colour was the thick tight creamy head.  It was as smooth as a milk pond and the whole appearance is like a ruby red Guinness.  It has a lovely light malty fruity aroma but I admit to not being able to resist diving in for a taste without lingering on the smell.

Oh it is just heavenly.  It is deliciously malty with a liquorice undertone but with a slightly citrus and metallic bitter aftertaste.  It is a full bodied ale that is SO smooth it slips down far too easily and I could have stayed for a few more.  I even let my Mam have a taste and usually she would comment with a 'bleurgh' but she liked it and said: 'I could drink that'.  Give it back!!!

Canadien Red, Ale Be Seeing You Again and I might even buy my parents one instead of a coffee next time we visit North Tyneside.

Brewed by Three Kings Brewery, North Shields

4.8% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Three Kings Brewery

Adnams Mosaic Pale Ale

This pale ale has a deep golden yellow appearance with a thick frothy white head.  A little darker than most pale ales it has stunning aromas of pineapple, mango, tropical fruit and a slight hint of grapefruit.

I'm not a great fan of fruity flavoured pale ale but this Mosaic Pale is really unusual, it is crisp and dry with a tropical fruit burst aftertaste.  There is barely any bitterness although it seemed to acquire a bit more of a citrus flavour as I was drinking it.  Softly carbonated, it's very refreshing and surprisingly nice.  A good summer ale, and I have seen mini kegs of Mosaic Pale on offer on Amazon so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it for a summer barbecue or a relaxing day of reading in the sun (or shade, in my case).

Brewed by Adnams, Southwold, Suffolk
4.1% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Adnams

Allendale GFPA

I could see a bit of sediment in the bottle so I poured it slowly and carefully, although I got a bit of cloudiness in the pour.  It smells very strongly of citrus with a hint of hops.

The head disappears quite quickly but it does leave a bit of lacing on the glass.  Pale ales aren't my favourite but this is very harsh.  It has an overpowering grapefruit taste leaving a bitter aftertaste as if I'd sucked the pith from a grapefruit or lemon.  Due to the strong zestiness it's very refreshing but the taste is just a bit too harsh for me.

I bought this as part of an Allendale mixed pack from Best of British Beer, however, I received mostly pale ales so the lovely folk at Best of British Beer agreed to send me a few darker Allendale ales from their next delivery.  Now that's what I call customer service!

Brewed by Allendale, Northumberland

4.7% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Allendale Brewery

The Park Brewery Gallows Gold

With a head that Mr Whippy would be proud of, this practically explodes out of the bottle on opening.  I was hit with amazing pineapple and tropical fruit aromas and more fizz than a bottle of champagne.  There's quite a bit of sediment in the bottle so I poured this slowly and carefully and, with that spectacular head, wouldn't have got a drop more in the glass anyway.

Surprisingly, with the abundance of bubbles, this is not a gassy beer.  It's actually crisp rather than fizzy and has a delicious golden citrus flavour; it's more grapefruit than lemon, giving it a lovely bitter aftertaste.  The colour is very rich - a deep golden/light amber that lets you know that this is a complex beer and not simply an American Pale Ale.

The thick creamy head lasts to the very last drop and clings to the glass.  Ale be seeing you again, Gallows Gold.

Brewed by The Park Brewery, Kingston upon Thames

5% ABV

Find out more about the Park Brewery