GREEN Flash have sent beer to the UK in the past, in dribs and drabs, but it’s never been something we’ve stocked in the shop until now; pricey, over-sized bottles of ten per cent beer never sell quickly, especially when they’re already months old upon arrival.
When beer is this hop-forward it needs to be fresh, and we don’t want it sitting on the shelf months before you get your hands on it.
Recently, however, production for the European market was taken over by St Feuillien, in Belgium.
You can see where this is going: gone are the old bottles of beer with their fading hop character, in are the more affordable, freshly brewed bottles of hop-forward staples such as Green Bullet and today’s beer, Hop Head Red.
Pouring deep, pin-bright ruby with a thick, rocky beige head, this beer leaves lacing right down the glass; plenty of hops and caramelised malts in here.
The aroma is surprisingly malt-led for such a hoppy beer, with Ginger Nut biscuits, peppery rye bread, and Hobnobs accented by clementines and a faint strawberry sweetness.
Clean, but robust, and dangerously drinkable, it is also oily and hoppy with flavours of raspberry contrasted by Merlot and nettle tea.
Spicy and drying cherries sit atop raisin and tobacco sweetness, with a hefty bitterness sweeping in on the finish.
Green tea, camphor, and lemon zest ride a wave of bready malt to round out the finish perfectly.
Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonebow, York
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