The Lemon Fool

Just to report that an ad hoc informal social was held this evening between myself and Chris Searle, also of this Parish.

The venue was the Jack and Jill Inn in Clayton, West Sussex and the objective was to sample Hophead bitter from Dark Star Brewery, on tap at the moment.

TJH

tjh290633 wrote: and the objective was to sample Hophead bitter from Dark Star Brewery, on tap at the moment.

TJH

And.....????!!!!!!

I've been sampling "Sheep Dip" tonight, by Plain Ales. A mighty fine brew.....


Edit to add, the "plain" being Salisbury Plain.

We'll have to do a London one 'soon'

Mike4 wrote:

tjh290633 wrote: and the objective was to sample Hophead bitter from Dark Star Brewery, on tap at the moment.

TJH

And.....????!!!!!!

And, I can report that the Hophead was just perfect. There is something about cascade hops used in real ale that I really like. Another beer that I presume falls into this category is Naked Ladies from Twickenham brewery. I am in search of others, one beer at a time.

As far as this micro-social was concerned it was very enjoyable exchanging anecdotes with Terry. Because he has a few years on me and also spent much of his life gallivanting around in aeroplanes relying on pieces of equipment and techniques that sound very, er, rudimentary in order to safely get his crate and himself safely back onto terra firma his anecdotes were the best. C.

csearle wrote:There is something about cascade hops used in real ale that I really like. Another beer that I presume falls into this category is Naked Ladies from Twickenham brewery..

NL is Celeia and Chinook isn't it?

Hallucigenia wrote:

csearle wrote:There is something about cascade hops used in real ale that I really like. Another beer that I presume falls into this category is Naked Ladies from Twickenham brewery..

NL is Celeia and Chinook isn't it?

Might be. Haven't looked. If so that is also good news as it would mean there are other hops I can seek out! C.

csearle wrote:

Hallucigenia wrote:NL is Celeia and Chinook isn't it?

Might be. Haven't looked. If so that is also good news as it would mean there are other hops I can seek out! C.

In the 1970s/80s/90s US breeders came up with a bunch of piney/grapefruity hops that are collectively referred to as the C-hops - Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus etc (but also including eg Ahtanum), which sounds what you're looking for - they're now typically associated with West Coast IPAs, but also work in British styles.

Hallucigenia wrote:

csearle wrote:

Hallucigenia wrote:NL is Celeia and Chinook isn't it?

Might be. Haven't looked. If so that is also good news as it would mean there are other hops I can seek out! C.

In the 1970s/80s/90s US breeders came up with a bunch of piney/grapefruity hops that are collectively referred to as the C-hops - Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus etc (but also including eg Ahtanum), which sounds what you're looking for - they're now typically associated with West Coast IPAs, but also work in British styles.

I take my hat off to you H, you are the best source of info for all things beer or wine related.

Even though I have now stopped drinking alcohol, I will always treasure memories of the day spent with you at the Great British Beer Festival. What a great day that was!

John

Hallucigenia wrote:

csearle wrote:

Hallucigenia wrote:NL is Celeia and Chinook isn't it?

Might be. Haven't looked. If so that is also good news as it would mean there are other hops I can seek out! C.

In the 1970s/80s/90s US breeders came up with a bunch of piney/grapefruity hops that are collectively referred to as the C-hops - Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus etc (but also including eg Ahtanum), which sounds what you're looking for - they're now typically associated with West Coast IPAs, but also work in British styles.

One notable etc is Citra - very much to my taste that one.

GrahamPlatt wrote:One notable etc is Citra - very much to my taste that one.

Is that the one that they use in Adnam's Ghost Ship?

TJH

tjh290633 wrote:

GrahamPlatt wrote:One notable etc is Citra - very much to my taste that one.

Is that the one that they use in Adnam's Ghost Ship?

TJH

Among others : https://www.adnams.co.uk/beer/shop-by-t ... ottles.htm

And, of course, Oakham Citra !

Sorry to interject but I must offer a contrary hop for your consideration... https://www.britishhops.org.uk/varieties/boadicea/

I rather enjoyed the M&S (Meantime brewed) beer of the same name but find it gets middling reviews online. Each to their own.

Hi All.

I quite like Ghost Ship, less so Oakhams Citra, but have never tried the other three listed earlier in the chain.

My taste tends towards their more gassy brethren - my favourite when available was Caledonian's "Coast to Coast" (the hops being Centennial, Columbus, Simcoe and Cascade). In the places where this was available, it has now been supplanted by Neck Oil and/or Punk IPA. I'm also fine with actual US ones, e.g. Sierra Nevada and their like.

Regards, Newroad

redsturgeon wrote:Even though I have now stopped drinking alcohol, I will always treasure memories of the day spent with you at the Great British Beer Festival. What a great day that was!

Indeed, Lithuanians and all.

GrahamPlatt wrote:One notable etc is Citra - very much to my taste that one.

In the same way Ahtanum is considered a C-hop, Citra isn't - it belongs to a later generation of hops known for their "tropical" flavours (mango/pineapple/papaya) rather than pine/grapefruit. Some brewers call them "cheater hops", because they are such crowd-pleasers that they make it easy to make beer that sells.

I must admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Boadicea, but it's a very significant hop from a genetic and agronomy POV - it's the first aphid-resistant hop, and the first dwarf hop to break what had been a close linkage between the dwarf gene and the selinene production gene which had limited the usefulness of the dwarfing gene as everything tended to taste like Challenger.