Urthel Hop-It

Urthel Hop-It
Style: Blonde Belgian Style India Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 9.5%

From: Ruiselede, West Flanders, Belguim

Purchased From: Bruges, Belguim

http://www.urthel.com/en/home.htm

Hildegard (Odette) Overmeire began brewing in 2000 alongside her husband Bas van Ostaden. The cheeky chap that appears on their bottles is called Urthel and his adventures in the fantasized world of the Erthel legends.  Urthel beers are brewed in the Koningshoeven brewery in Ruiselede, West Flanders. Whilst in Bruges this October, I saw a number of Urthel beers on sale. Seeing as I could not bring them all back, I decided to go for Hop-It, a blonde Belgian Style India Pale Ale with a whopping 9.5% ABV. From memory, this will be the second strongest beer I have ever tried. Let’s hope that I survive to tell the tale.

Colour: This drink pours a bright, straw yellow topped with a bubbly white head. Be careful not to pour this drink too quickly, as the foam will rise out of the glass.

Aroma: Big upfront notes of freshly cut straw will present themselves straight away. These playfully mix with warming coriander notes, that will sting your nostrils with every sip. Rather unfortunately, these aroma completely die away after just a few minutes in the glass.

Body: Very similar to the Duvel and the Alken-Maes Judas i reviewed earlier this year, this is a drink of two halves. The first, is a light, heavily carbonated drink that has a similar mouthfeel to Champagne. The second could not be any more different. A sticky, almost BBQ sauce like sensation will coat your throat on every sip. A very strange sensation that's for sure.

Taste: Wooo! The alcohol will hit you straight away and can be extremely overpowering to the uninitiated. After picking myself off the floor, i braved another sip. Strong notes of crisp hay and grass are present on the palate. If you swill the drink around your mouth, a sticky, sweet lavender honey porridge can be tasted. Perfect for those cold winter nights! As the drink naturally warms, the ale will assume these sticky characteristics in the glass. For me, it needs a little bit more to make it not just another heavily hopped Belgian IPA. Alken-Maes' Judas, is a much better example of this style.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/alken-maes-judas.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/ommegang-hennepin.html

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Hogs Back HOP Garden Gold

Hogs Back HOP Garden Gold

Style: English Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 4.4%

From: Tongham, Surrey, England, UK

Purchased From: Waitrose
http://www.hogsback.co.uk/

Hogs Back Brewery is a brewery in Tongham, Surrey, England, and named after the nearby Hog's Back ridge. The brewery started in 1992 as a joint venture between two friends, Martin Zillwood-Hunt and Anthony Stanton-Precious. Growing rapidly since then, it now produces 40,000 pints per week and supplies over 500 outlets.

A couple of weeks ago me and my old man paid a visit to the Hogs back brewery. We where the first to arrive so popped into the shop. Walking up the stairs I said to my dad, "oh we should pick up a case of their beers". I was left to eat my words as not only did they sell there own stock, but a truly amazing selection of world beers. I quickly made a list and then headed on the tour. The brewery is located in some old farm house so all the equipment has been packed into a relatively small area. The tour takes around an hour and a half and at a mere 12 pounds was well worth the money. We also got to sample (and I use this term very loosely as I think I drank around four pints worth) some of there beers. We tried their new Summer Ale, their stable TEA, HBB (hogs back bitter) and the subject of this review HOP Garden Gold.

Colour: When you pour this beer into a glass, you are presented with a pale brown liquid with no head. Now I always enjoy a nice head on a beer due to the fact that this is where the aromas are stored. So I'm quite disappointed that there is not one present in my glass. The beer is slightly hazy in the glass but you can still see though it.

Aroma: As there is no head, it's actually quite hard to work out what this drink smells of. You really have to get your head fully in the glass to work out what's in there. Sniffing deeply you can pick up notes of sweet molasses cut though with sharp lemon zest. There are also very, very faint floral notes.


Body: Being as the UK is experiencing temperatures of 32 degrees at the moment, this beer will slip down a treat after a stick day in the office. Very light and extremely refreshing which makes it a perfect drink for the summer time. There is a slight sticky mouth feel after each gulp.

Taste: Fresh from the fridge you are bombarded with fresh lemonade and lime notes. As the beer warms, these settle down to reveal deep rich sticky caramel notes mixed with crushed hob nobs. I'm always amazed as to how flavours develop as beer warms. There is also a slight acidic after taste which helps cleanse the palate after each sip.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/robinsons-dizzy-blonde.html
Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/skinners-heligan-honey.html

 

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery