Independent South London brewery Orbit Beers releases its English IPA today, hopped with home-grown varieties Jester, Emperor, and UK Chinook.

Orbit English IPA

The beer is part of Orbit’s White Label Series range that explores the more experimental side of brewing. Known for its European-style keg beers, such as Nico Köln Lage, and Berliner weisse Tzatziki Sour, Orbit has decided to release a limited number of casks in March to see how receptive the London beer market is to the format.

“We have produced wooden casks in the past for events such as Society for Preservation of Beer from the Wood Festival and Craft100, but having such a talented brew team with experience gained in well-established, cask-focused breweries, we’ve decided to dip our toes in the water a little further this year and expand our offering,” said Orbit Beers general manager, Robbie Sykes.

“Our team have often taken inspiration from traditional European-style beers with cultural significance, so cask seems like a logical category to explore and allows us to supply some of the fantastic Cask-Marque pubs in London that we don’t work with as often.”

The English IPA is part of Orbit’s White Label Series range. It is inspired by white label records, which are distributed by labels to DJs and radio stations to promote new artists and test listeners’ reactions to tracks.

“The gradual decline of cask in London over the years might be partly due to the rise in popularity of premium keg beers,” said Robbie. “And although CAMRA has tried to keep cask prices low for the average pub-goer, this might have led to cask becoming somewhat undervalued.

“The beer is fresh and it can be more labour-intensive to produce, so it should be seen as more of an equal to the keg equivalents. It’s vital that both front-of-house and cellar management teams work together to look after cask products, and advertise them well so that more people can experience and understand the enjoyment of fresh cask beer.”

Head brewer Paul Spraget (formerly of Mad Hatter Brewery) and lead brewer Greg Stork (formerly of Five Points Brewery) were inspired to make a traditional English IPA using modern UK hops. Originally brewed in keg in the spring of 2022, the team have developed the recipe further and decided the style would work especially well in cask due to its fruity character and long, lingering bitterness.

The beer (5.2% ABV), which is vegan, offers strong hop flavours from a blend of three English varieties that give softer stonefruit flavours on the nose and palate than the more traditional UK hops. Expect notes of tangerine and pine with a long, moreish bitterness, and aromas of freshly-cut grass with hints of blackcurrant, and strawberries and cream.