Brooklyn Brewery are an established part of the US brewing scene, and unlike contemporaries such as Goose Island, remain independent to this day.

Legendary lead brewer Garrett Oliver has led the team for more than 20 years, and has done an exceedingly good job of producing a steady range of classic, appealing core beers such as Brooklyn Lager (a mainstay on our bar upstairs) and the fantastic East India Pale Ale while throwing out some of the finest seasonal and limited-release beers money can buy.

The Sorachi Ace single hop saison and Black Ops bourbon-aged stouts are particular highlights, and summarise perfectly this brewery's approach to beer: no gimmicks, no fanfare, no showboating – just skilfully brewed beer packed full of flavour.

Blast is an 8.4 per cent India pale ale – so we already know to expect hops in abundance. The aroma immediately betrays their presence with a sharp tangerine fruitiness offset by dry, earthy white tea, and tarragon. An element of plum booziness pokes through too, without undermining the complexity of the hop aroma.

Dry grapefruit hops wash the palate followed by candy floss sweetness, a welcome arrival providing balance with a touch of strawberry. Coconut cream and nutmeg appear next, taming the strong bitterness from the initial hop surge, before a refined earthy bitterness closes out atop a medium-sweet, full bodied body. Crisp, complex, this is Brooklyn beer through-and-through.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York