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Green Flash Brewing Co
 A hoppy delight! Reviewed by RD
7.3% ABV
Colour: A super clean pinkish copper, like brand new penny. A small foamy off white head sat on top. lively carbonation but that maybe down to the hi-tech glass given to me by Alex at AllBeer.co.uk All in all, it looks like a finely crafted beer.
Nose: Fragrant but all so pungent and sappy, I blame the Columbus hops, piny but not resinous. A whiff of freshly stripped lemongrass, grapefruit, but citric like Cascade hops. Text book IPA but with a little something extra. Its smells like you’d expect but there is a certain quality to this that makes it a bit more special. I really can’t put my finger on it. I love the smell of IPA, I find myself thinking throughout the day…”That smells nice, it smell like a well hopped IPA”.
Taste: Bitter-sweet, sappy fresh Simcoe hops. Grapefruit but not acidic. A good burst of sweet hops with a hint of smooth caramel.Very clean, medium bodied mouthfeel. A little carbonation keeps it lively and from being flat. A long, lingering fragrant hoppy aftertaste which is clean and with a pleasing level of bitterness…but not much.
Overall Experience: There is plenty of sweet malt but it is dominated by the hops. Green flash say it is “Extravagantly hopped” but it is a beautifully balanced beer. Easy drinking considering its full flavour and sappy hop profile.
While writing this conclusion I read some people’s thoughts on Beer Advocate and many people think you have to be a big hophead to enjoy this beer. Rubbish, I could give the beer to any of my beer loving friends and they’d be bowled over. It is fantastic! I was going to have another beer tonight but I don’t think anything can follow this.
This beer came all the way from Illinois to Bradford in the hands (and suitcase) of Lee Birkitt (UKbrewer on Twitter), a friend who recently had to come back to the UK soon after Christmas. As two beer geeks (sorry Lee I’m tagging you as a Beer Geek, live with it and love it!) we had to swap a few brews. I drank the bottle of Three Floyds Dark Lord 2009 with Zak at Beer Ritz on Sunday and no doubt me and my fellow HopZiner Matt will drink the bottle of Two Brothers Hop Juice very soon.
Thank you Green Flash and thank you Mr Birkett.
Saltaire Brewery
 Triple Saltaire-a-holic! Reviewed by RD
4.8% ABV
Colour: Jet-black opaque stout with a solid looking finger of beige head with bags of lacing that retained until the end. Hooray for torrified wheat and the use of a sparkler.
Nose: The majority of the nose is made up of chocolate aromas. Once again just like the Shakespeare Stout it’s not dark and rich. It reminds me very much of milky hot drinking chocolate.
Taste: This has a very pleasing mouthfeel, creamy and smooth. Lots of chocolate from chocolate malts, real chocolate and chocolate syrups. I spotted a brief hint of raisins. There is some lively carbonation before a little bite of hop bitterness on a very clean aftertaste.
Overall Experience: I am a proud “Saltaire-ian”, I live there, I love the output of this brewery. I’ve never had a bad beer from them. Everything is very good to outstanding.
This is a rare review of a cask ale; most reviews we tend to do are bottled beers. But I ran into this seasonal offering at The Victoria pub in Saltaire. This beer is beautifully balanced, velvety and easy drinking. A drinkable stout at such a low ABV is a very valuable commodity. It has the correct blend of chocolate and beery goodness. A great beer and a great brewery.
Post Review Comment from MT: I had some of this last year and really enjoyed it. Totally agree with Rob, Saltaire Brewery are great and we’re very fortunate to have them on our doorstep. I remember noting that this beer had the right amount of chocolate for a chocolate-based beer. Perhaps more of a Bourneville style chocolate with a slight bitter edge but thankfully not too sweet.
It’s only a matter of time before we get to make the tasting and review notes for the superb “Hazelnut Coffee Porter” which could even bag a Gold Standard.
Terrapin Beer Co
 Reviewed by RD
5.0% ABV
Colour: Pale gold body with a few bubbles. Finished off with a healthy white foam head.
Nose: A rather complex aroma for such a “standard” style. Bready malt, fresh apricots, toffee, butter and sweet Acacia honey.
Taste: At first I got smooth honey, not as sweet as it was on the nose. Crisp biscuit malt, pale stone fruits then a cleansing spurt of carbonation before a brief hop profile of cascade hops. The aftertaste is refreshing with a mild spice similar to ginger this probably was result of the Mount Hood hops.
Overall Experience: I really enjoyed this beer. I drank this on a Friday whilst preparing dinner. I wanted an uncomplex easy drinking beer to quench my thirst and relax after work. This certainly did the job. I picked this up at Utobeer on a trip to London. I’m a keen follower of Mark’s video beer reviews over at BikeBeerBBQ and this is his local brewery. He’s always drinking Terrapin’s more specialist or seasonal output and making me very envious. I hope more Terrapin beers manage to swim their way across the Atlantic.
Rogue Ale
 A roguish bard of a beer! Reviewed by MT and RD
6.0% ABV
Colour: This poured “Stout Dark”…the darkest brown can be before it turns black. Topped off with a good looking mid brown creamy head. A handsome beer!
Nose: The first thing that grabbed me was the dry oat quality that I’ve become very familiar with of recent. Milk chocolate, not the rich burnt chocolate you usually encounter in a stout. I all so caught a little ash and dry smokiness on the back end.
Taste: Initially a little spritzy carbonation keeps it light. Then you are hit with a good burst of smoke followed by some sharp citrus cascade hops. A little bitter chocolate from the Beeston Chocolate malt. Finishing on another appearance from the hops and whiff of black coffee. Really well balanced with a complex flavour that develops and unravels.
Overall Experience: Matt commented that he’d gladly drink this as a lower ABV alternative to Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout. “The Bard would be pleased!”.
Personally I’m a big fan of Rogue beers. They are special without being pretentious. They take traditional styles of beer and push them as far as they see is suitable without losing their core essence and traditions. I love the painted bottles and the way the whole thing is presented. I recently heard an interview with head brewer John Maier and I think his character summed up the whole Rogue ethos. Likeable, unassuming and confident in what they do.
Back to the beer and less of my “Rogue Love”. I really enjoyed it and it is one of the best I’ve had from Rogue. Great levels of chocolaty malt and clean hops make this a supremely drinkable stout.
Crown
 Two experts, one wonderful IPA Reviewed by RD
7.2% ABV
Colour: From the bottle this poured a cloudy mid to dark copper with very little head. But what head did appear was off white and creamy. Pass me the sprinkler and put a head on it!
Nose: A great nose, just what I hoped for! Sappy hops, juicy chewy citrus and plenty of pine. These aromas set the table for a peach of an IPA.
Taste: Perfect! The first thing that strikes you is, that it is very refreshing and a little sweet. A great level of malt is the first flavour that washes over your palette, and then comes the second wave this time its fragrant piny hops, not resinous clean, juicy and balanced. A slight bitterness of grapefruit on an enjoyable aftertaste. I love it!
Overall Experience: As Zak Avery will no doubt cover the back story in greater detail, this was brewed at the Crown Brewery by Stuart Ross the brewer at the Crown Brewery and writer and IPA expert Pete Brown. I won’t go into detail, visit Zak’s blog for the video review and read Pete’s fantastic book Hops and Glory.
Personally I really enjoyed it. A very traditional British IPA and a bit more refined than Crown’s Unpronounceable IPA more balanced and not as wild. Fresh hoppy and very drinkable. I really needed to slow down and savour this fine beer; it was going down very easily. I could have easily drunk a few more bottles.
Rodhams
 What a difference a couple of years make! Reviewed by RD
6.2% ABV
Colour: Clean pale, straw like amber with a healthy white head that settled to a fine film on top.
Nose: Zesty citrus, gooseberries, grapes (but not wine) bitter orange biscuit malt honey…A lot more than I expected
Taste: Straight off it was wet and refreshing then the hops arrive and in a very well measured amount. Rather bitter but crisp and to the point. Zesty and sharp rather than perfumed that is emphasized by the tart grapefruit that appears on a rather bitter aftertaste, but also clean and drinkable.
Overall Experience: When you are faced with a British IPA that weighs in at 6.2% ABV I’m usually partly excited and a little apprehensive. A large section of British ales that claim to be IPAs fall very short and should be cast into the ever-expanding glut of substandard pale ales. But I’m glad to say this one pulls it off in spades. Lots of fresh hops balanced with citric fruits and biscuit malt. I wasn’t expecting much from the tiny brewery that is little more than a homebrew in ways of set up, but I really enjoyed it.
The one and only Zak Avery wrote about an earlier incarnation of this beer. It seems to me that this brew has evolved and improved over the last three years. I’ll have to supply “The Beer Boy” with the 2009 edition, I think he may change his mind. Click Here….to see Zak’s review of this beer from 2007.
Thornbridge
 Stout in whisky barrels... dose it work? YES! Reviewed by RD
10.2% ABV
Colour: This thick Imperial Russian stout slipped its way into a set of three tasting glasses like liquid velvet. Black but for a slight hint of dark brown. A minor beige head developed on top, but I didn’t expect much of a head from this manor serving.
Nose: Of course the dominant aroma is Whisky. Loads of salt water and peat. An arid smokiness akin to Bavarian ham and a very enjoyable and real Islay character.
Taste: A rich heavy malt taste, high cocoa chocolate, and fruitiness, figs and raisins. This robust roasted opulent side complimented and took away any hard edges that the presence of whisky may have created. But the Islay whisky is obviously the star of this show and the promises made on the nose were delivered in the mouth. Peat, woody, a little spice and very smooth. Yes its is very alcoholic but more of a pleasing warmth and by no mean burning. It feels full in the mouth, the carbonation is fittingly sparse, but definitely noticeable. Creamy and easy as you feel it passes through you.
Overall Experience: This was shared between three of us at the wonderful The Grove Inn, Huddersfield. We were supplied with 3 small glasses and it was delivered and presented to us like a beer of this quality should be. It wasn’t cheap I can tell you that, but it was worth every penny. Beers like this should always be shared, talked about and enjoyed. This was defiantly a luxury…the warm pub interior and this indulgent ale helped us forget the bitter winds and snow that would soon greet us. Much more balanced and refined than Brewdog’s Paradox Isle of Islay and not as barnstorming as TNP. Aged beers of this quality and depth make me think I could begin to enjoy whisky.
BrewDog in collaboration with Stone Brewing
 A confusing beer that makes a lot of sense Reviewed by MT and RD
8.6% ABV
Info: This is a limited brew black Belgian style double IPA. Now that’s all a bit of a mouthful but interesting to see how they combine these different styles. I’m sure they didn’t set out to brew something in that particular style but had ideas of what sort of flavours they wanted and the ingredients they were going to use.
Colour: Black with a dark sandy brown head (the colour of wet sand – RD)
Nose: First off there’s that undeniable smell of belgian yeast and then after being dominated by that there’s a subtle smoked tone hovering over it and a slight blackberry aroma.
Taste: Great tasting beer, exactly what I’d hope to get from Stone influencing BrewDog. That balance of flavours tastes as it was advertised on the nose. The interesting thing to come from this dark, complex beer is that it’s really quite refreshing. A clash of sweet, bitter and savoury but all working together at the same time to providea unique taste that works. Not really all that strong tasting either!
Overall Experience: Perhaps this beer was the catalyst for BrewDog to experiment with Belgian style flavours? Punk Monk tasted great as well. But Bashah….
Some people might have this down as a confused beer that isn’t really sure what it wants to be but…. seeing as Stone and BrewDog are cutting a name for themselves as both being a little daring and experimental, we think this actually works really well. Enjoyable, with a refreshing IPA edge to a beer that offers the kind of experience you’d get from a Belgian dubbel.
We’re not saying that Stone and BrewDog can’t do no wrong but they do seem to hit the bullseye more than often!
Quartz Brewing (Swinfen)
 Not to be confused with Robbie Coltraine Reviewed by MT
5% ABV
Info: Might be a little bit more challenging to get your hands on this one but if you’re making your way through the West Midlands…. Quartz are a micro brewery based in Swinfen which is fairly close to Lichfield. They also have a pub and shop on the same site so if you’re in the neighbourhood it might be worth popping in for a pint or some take-home bottles.
This is Quartz Cracker, their seasonal Christmas offering.
Colour: Cracker is a dark rich brown colour which when held up to the light appears to be clear and more the complexion of a cola. A really soft light head on this suggests a gentle carbonation.
Nose: Quite a sweet dark fruit cake flavour, perhaps more like dark treacle or molasses.
Taste: This beer has a thin mouth feel to it, the carbonation is minimal but there’s enough to ensure it’s not flat tasting. Those red wine style flavours are gentle and subtle plus the bitterness is fairly low-key too. Hard to believe that this is a 5% dark ale.
Overall Experience: I had the opportunity to sample another Quartz beer over the Christmas period which was Quartz blonde, unsurprisingly a light blonde ale, similar in mouth feel and very drinkable.
The majority of beers I’ve got loitering in my beer cellar are largely robust and heavy set beers that are going to get up in your face and rough you up a bit. So, this is really a welcome break as it’s so light and drinkable.
A quart of Quartz would be quite quaffable without question!
Crown Brewery
 Who is Sam Berry? Reviewed by RD
5.1% ABV
Colour: Very pale yellow with a hint of green. A few bits of sediment appear despite a very delicate pour. A brief foamy white head formed on top but receded to a fine film after a few seconds
Nose: A certain woody (Oak?) is the first thing that strike you followed by lots of bready malt. There is a certain tartness akin to traditional cider but in a more subtle way.
Taste: A clean and refreshing first impression with a great level of bitterness coming through from the Cascade and Northern Brewer hops. A sweet fruit taste similar to an overripe pineapple. I also detected a certain yeast-like taste, more akin to what you’d find in a Belgian but not as “full-on”.
Overall Experience: A really drinkable pale ale, and with a stronger more complex flavour to what you’d usually expect from a British brewery. Full of bold fruit, balanced hops and the right amount of bitterness. Crown Brewery keep producing lovely beers, traditional but with a expertly judged twist. I cannot wait to be at the Hillsborough Hotel sampling some on tap.
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