2 Rather Good IPAs and a bit more!

I couldn't believe it when I saw this on sale in Morrisons, but a 500ml bottle conditioned Thornbridge (website) Jaipur (5.9%). This superb version of an IPA with many hops from the USA, that are Chinook (hopslist), Centennial (hopslist), Ahtanum (hopslist), Simcoe (hopslist), Columbus (hopslist) and Cascade (hopslist). This is an excellent pale golden ale, with plenty of tropical fruits, grapefruit and citrus in the aroma and taste, with a dry bitter finish. I once had a few pints of a dry hopped cask conditioned version of this at the University Arms in Sheffield, when my old friend Mike Pigeon was the manager there, that was a bit special too, quality! 👍

Easily found at Marks & Spencer is their 4.9% Citra IPA, which is brewed by Oakham Ales (website), in the middle of Oakham's 4.6% bottled Citra and the bigger hitting 6.0% Green Devil, all brewed as single hopped ales, the hop being the excellent Citra, unsurprisingly (hopslist). Anyway, to the 4.9% M&S version, which has a big citrus aroma and taste, and paler than the Jaipur, with a lovely crisp dry bitter finish, very good indeed! Oh yes, and not forgetting... 😉

Have a guess what I was drinking yesterday in the Dolphin Inn in Hastings Old Town, yep, the wonderful session ale that is the  4.2% cask conditioned version of Oakham Citra! Not much to add really, does what it says on the label, and I can't remember it in better form, excellent!  😁

Cheers Ears! 🍻

The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock a Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website).

The University Arms, 197 Brook Hill, Sheffield S3 7HG (website).

Peterborough and Oakham Ales Postscript...

Indeed, further to my last blog about my recent visit to Peterborough, which included visiting 2 of the 4 Oakham Ales hostelries run by their sister company, The Oaka Group; I always thought that the Bartons Arms in Birmingham was one of their pubs, which I've visited a few times and written about before (blog), but Helen at Oakham has informed me that it is 'leased' out, shame. However, I have visited the Mansion House in Kennington a few times. eg blog, and their fourth business is actually the East Restaurant on the upper deck of Charters in Peterborough (blog).

Anyway, the postscript is that, although I was too sensible to drink the 6% Oakham Green Devil whilst in Peterborough, I had a couple of pints yesterday at my local, the Dolphin Inn in Hastings, a pub that I have written about before, obviously, eg blog. Anyway! Green Devil is the "big brother" of the 'session ale' at 4.2% Oakham Citra, also a few more hops used, not just significantly stronger, but 'doubled hopped' and twice 'World Champion' ale (website).

They describe the taste on the Green Devil pump clip as being "powerful, tropical fruit" and it certainly has a deeper more full taste than Citra, but I detect some grapefruit as well as tropical fruit flavours, we're all different. Indeed, it's an excellent pale golden bitter, with Wheat Malt used, as well as the usual Maris Otter, my notes say plenty of body, dry finish, and very good!

Looking forward to my next pint shortly, cheers! 

Oakham Ales - Double Hopped Citra IPA

First of all, I'm so sorry, and angry with myself, for not writing a Beermeister blog for so long, caught up in other things is my lame excuse! But, a combination of rain persisting down, and few £s, finds me sitting indoors watching raindrops hitting the window pane, and with the laptop on... Anyway, this IPA is brewed by the excellent Oakham Ales, but for Marks & Spencer. I found 4 cans of this a few weeks ago and managed to hold off drinking them, they were £2 a 330ml can, and I seem to remember 4 for the price of 3, so a decent deal, but to the drinking...

The Double Hopped Citra IPA is a pale golden American Pale Ale style beer, a strong 5.9%, so 2 units of alcohol in each can. The label and advertising blurb suggests 'Mango, Lemon & Lime' flavoured, and there certainly is strong mixed citrus and tropical fruit in the aroma, but I got more citrus in the taste, coming straight from the Citra hops used, and Oakham Ales (website) do, indeed, use plenty of hops in their ales. Comparatively, Citra hops are used in their excellent 4.2% Citra Session IPA and, their stronger, and even more excellent 6% Green Devil IPA, to which the Doubled Hopped Citra IPA compares reasonably favourably, shame it's not in a cask. Anyway, the M&S canned variety has plenty of body and finishes off with a very dry bitterness, I quite enjoyed drinking it, 'any port in a storm' comes to mind, cheers!