Only With (more) Love!

It was as recent as September 2023 (blog) that I was last asked for my opinion of beers brewed by East Sussex (Uckfield) brewer Only With Love (website). I have written about a cask ale of theirs before (blog), but these were in tins again, although I doubt it would have made much difference regarding my analysis and opinion if they were from the pump.

So, the first beer I'm sharing my opinion of with you is their 5.9% All Star, brewed with Citra, Nelson and Galaxy hops. The selections of hops used for all these ales are very much to my taste, as I often say (sorry for boring you 😉), I do like my beers pale, dry and bitter, like me, and these are the types of hops to help provide me with my preferred taste. It was a bit too 'thick' for me, and I did my best to leave as much sediment in the bottom of the can as possible (for all 3 beers) without wasting any! They say 'hazy' but this is an understatement, it was thick. Lovely big fruity aroma, and sweetish taste, with citrus, tropical fruit, and gooseberry, and a dry finish.

One of the beers I had tried last year (blog) was a 5.0% version of their Bongo Tropic IPA (4.5% this time). Again brewed with El Dorado, Cascade, Mosaic, Citra, Sabro and Simcoe hops, this still produces a big citrus and tropical fruits aroma and taste, with a decent dry finish, and I noted 'pretty good!' However, it still could be a belter if it wasn't so thick, add some vegan friendly finings and/or adjunct and I'd be singing its praises, oh well, too pretentious for moi.😉

Also, I drank a similar, less than 0.5%, Juicy AF as last year (blog), although lacking the Citra hops this time, only having Columbus, El Dorado and Mosaic hops used in the brewing process, before taking out the alcohol. But I really don't know why they bothered with hops because mango was added to the brew! You can guess what I'm going to say looking back at last year's blog, but this time I may as well have drunk a mango smoothie. A waste of brewing time, I couldn't even taste the hops used, because the mango dominated the taste.

Overall, the brewery uses great hops, but wastes great hops. I'm obviously not trendy enough for them, and quite frankly m'dears, 'I don't give a dam!' 😞