Ossett Brewery started operations in 1998 in the West Yorkshire town of the same name. Demand for the ales soon required larger premises and the company was forced to move in 2005 to new site, all of 50 yards away.
Over recent years, the brewery has acquired a tied estate of 15 pubs and three restaurants, and has also taken over two other small breweries, Fernandes in Wakefield and Riverhead in Marsden, though both these continue to operate independently.
This week’s feature is Yorkshire Blonde, whose label depicts a local lass, her free-flowing tresses topped with a traditional flat cap.
The colour is very pale yellow, almost lager-like, and there is a lively fizzle of bubbles though little in the way of a head. There is a crisp, green apple and grapefruit aroma with some barley sugar and a little vanilla in the background.
The flavour is light and subtle, with sweetish malt and delicate fruit balanced by a flowery hoppiness (the label identifies the hops as Mount Hood) that becomes increasingly herbal through the swallow. The aftertaste is contrastingly dry and tangy with a generous bitterness at the finish.
A hot summer’s day and a Yorkshire Blonde ... champion!
• As recommended by Jim Helsby, of the York Beer And Wine Shop, Sandringham Street, York
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