Regular readers – perhaps even some of you who I’m not related to – will have noticed I like a true life story to tenuously hang my column on. This week the opportunity arose whilst sharing beers – ever the philanthropist – at a party.
I was passing round an Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vieille – check back a couple of weeks if you fancy more detail – which was being widely enjoyed by the assembled throng. One guest however was less than impressed, loudly declaring: "Oh dear me no, I hate fruit beers" without so much as a cautionary glance at the bottle.
Having shared an IPA with him not an hour previous that was – to quote Ween – pure guava, it’s fair to say I gave him a hard stare. Still, I understood what he was getting at. Until relatively recently most widely available fruit beers have had so much added sugar they had a taste more akin to a quarter of kola cubes. Fortunately these days many brewers are doing their best to remedy the situation by approaching fruit – and hop strains with pronounced fruit notes - as ingredients to lift and compliment flavour, rather than just to add extra sweetness for dumbed-down, mass appeal.
Wild Beer Pogo (£2.40/4.1%/330ml)
Don’t be put off by the awful graphics, this is one of Wild Beer’s finest cans yet. Slight floral hints on the nose, alongside tropical fruit punch (in both senses) and orange zest. The titular fruits – POGO being an acronym for passion fruit, orange and guava, I’m guessing the other O is for ‘Oh! This is tasty!’ – are all there in the flavour, with only the slightest hop bitterness on the finish. A beach beer in excelsis.
Fourpure Juicebox IPA (£3.20/5.9%/500ml)
This is initially all zippy citrus on the nose, before melon, peach and papaya join the party. With so much fruit on the nose I was a bit worried this might be too sweet, but this medium bodied – almost oily – sipper is just off dry, with a pink grapefruit bitterness to balance things out before a long lasting grassy, earthy hop finish. Extra refreshment points for the 500ml can.
Victory Kirsch Gose (£3.00/4.7%/355ml)
Soft cherry jam aromas with a crisp, mouth-puckering sour cherry, lemon zest and sherbet flavour. Whilst some goses (geese?) are so salty that there’s no need for pork scratchings at the bar this doesn’t go overboard, with just a hint to balance out the sweet fruit on the finish.
Hawkshead/Crooked Stave Key Lime Tau (£4.30/6.28%/330ml)
Tau is 2 x Pi – hence the very specific ABV – so you can probably see where they are going with this. A slightly herbal nose, with punchy lime and light lactic sourness for that lime cheesecake aroma before lots more lime and biscuit malt flavours. This is very much a beer that does exactly what it says on the bottle.
Cromarty Brewing Co. Breakfast In Berlin (£2.20/2.0%/330ml)
This combines the twin breakfast favourites of Orange Juice and Tea – in this case Earl Grey – in a light and zippy Berliner. The nose has a little of the tea, but fortunately for me not too much , and a lot of orange with a hint of lactic sourness in there too. Taste wise this is all orange, sharp and refreshing and surprisingly full bodied for such a low ABV beer. A perfect hair of the dog with your full Scottish on a Sunday.
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