I do beer news, I tell people. I’m not a beer reviewer, which is why I have a section on the website called Beer Notes, and not Beer Reviews.
I do get sent beers to try, though, for which I’m very grateful. And I do try to get around as much as I can to try draught beers, too, although it has to be said that I do spend a lot of time in my local, The Star, in Crowlas, indulging in favaourites brewed in the brewery behind the pub.
Timothy Taylor’s: Hopical Storm
So I thought I’d start a bit of a round-up about what I’ve been trying lately, and I’m going to kick off with a big one. It’s a major launch because although it comes from a big, long-established brewer, Timothy Taylor’s, in Keighley, Yorkshire, it’s the brewery’s first ever beer in a can. You can read the full story behind the launch here.
There has, it has to be said, been a bit of a glut of beers arriving on the Norbury doorstop lately, of varying quality. If you can’t find something nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all, an elderly aunt told me when I was a child. Which is why not everything makes it to Beer Notes. (That aunt also said ‘Good things come to those who wait’. So I got a job as a waiter.)
Now, we all known Timothy Tayor’s for Landlord. It used to be quite a rarity to see it down here in the South West, but these days there seems to be lots of it around. Perhaps the wholesale price has dropped a little. It used to be one of the more expensive standard bitters for licensees to get their hands on.
There’s Boltmaker, of course, too, CAMRA’s champion beer of Britain in 2014, and plenty of other great cask brews, such as Golden Best, a particular favourite. Which is what makes Hopical Storm such a departure for the Yorkshire brewer.
It pours clear golden, rather than hazy, has a white head that stays well, and an inviting orange zestiness on the nose. On the palate, that develops into a big fruit hit — orange, mango, passionfruit — all vibrant and making the tastebuds stand to attention. In the background, light biscuit malt adds a degree of balance.
It’s a lovely beer, and one which I’ll return to, but interestingly I think it will have a broad appeal. It will encourage traditional Tim Taylor drinkers to try something a little outside their comfort zone, while not having to engage with a glass of haze, and bring in young craft drinkers who want to see how a brewer with many years’ experience adapts to a new market. Win, win, I’d say.
