4% English Pale Ale

Here we go! Our first beer from the beer365 box is a "refreshing pale ale brewed with 5 premium malts as well as English and New World hops". I'm not usually a massive fan of the word "premium" as I feel it's usually unfounded, but let's see what we get from this one!

Almost certainly this beer is bottle conditioned as it's got a lovely cloudy golden hue as it enters the glass. Carbonation is lively and sticks around for a wee while, before dissipating. 

Aroma is a tad funky - I'm getting all of those citrus notes promised from the bottle but I'm also getting a diacetyl smell, similar to butter popcorn or an intense buttered bit of toast. I'll push on though, and get to the flavour. 

Unfortunately, the flavour is very similar. Initially a light crisp beverage full of light tropical and citrus flavours, but the mouthfeel isn't good. I'm slightly used to having a tiny amount of diac in some cask ales in traditional British styles but this is just too much. It's almost oily and the aftertaste leaves a definite butteriness in the mouth. A shame really, because the initial flavour promised so much.


As previously mentioned, this was one of the bottles I got from a beer365 sample box. You can find a link to the site below!

6.0% Lemon Meringue Kettle Sour

The penultimate beer in our Omnipollo showcase and the only sour, this was another pickup from work along with the Rocky Road Imperial Stout that we'll be reviewing last. 

The beer itself is heavy with sediment which I tired to get as much of as possible into the beer. It was so thick though most of it stayed welded to the bottom of the bottle so don't so what I did and give it a little shake up before you begin to pour. 

The actual pour itself reveals quite a flat beer, minimal carbonation quickly rushing to the brim of the beer and almost immediately disappearing. The resulting beer looks like like still lemonade with a pale yellow haze.

The aroma however is quite hoppy, I was expecting a heavy lemon citrus hit but it 's overshadowed by hoppy citrus instead which is in no way undesirable. Lemon peel takes a backseat, along with the lactose sweetness. 

Flavour is puckering sourness, various citrus peel, piney hops and lactose sweetness which I presume represents the meringue. I wouldn't refer to this one as a sour, as it's quite balanced. 

As mentioned above, give your local BrewDog bar a shout to see if they have any of these left - otherwise at the time of writing Honestbrew.co.uk still have some in stock. 

6% "Neo-Tropic" IPA

It's been a long few days at work recently. We've had a rather fast turnover of staff and therefore are quite shorthanded resulting in plenty of hours for poor old me. Despite the beer money coming in thick and fast, I've not had chance to get to grips with a new beer - until this evening when I decided to crack one open and enjoy myself. 

When I finally fit the last dregs of the can into the glass, I noticed this one was much hazier than it first seemed, a hazy straw yellow.

It's got all those familiar pale stone fruit smells reminiscent of an east coast American IPA - super peachy, apricots and plums. Maybe even a hint of white grape.

Mouthfeel is very full, coating the inside of the mouth quickly indicating a possible addition of oats or wheat for the cloudiness. Flavours are super mellow and refreshing, ranging from the peach and apricot found in the aroma, to tropical fruits and a mild herbaceous note followed up with a minimal bitter aftertaste. 

This one was another grab from the work fridge at BrewDog York - give us a shout if you'd like to get one for yourself.