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Hobgoblin Ruby
Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd
Beer Geek Stats
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- From:
- Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd
- England, United Kingdom
- Style:
- Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
Ranked #54 - ABV:
- 5%
- Score:
- 85
Ranked #21,530 - Avg:
- 3.76 | pDev: 13.56%
- Reviews:
- 1,142
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Nov 21, 2023
- Added:
- Jan 15, 2002
- Wants:
- 102
- Gots:
- 550
Formerly Hobgoblin
Drink legendary. This distinct ruby beer’s sweet caramel and fruity aromas tease the taste buds. Brewed with smooth and rich Chocolate and Crystal malts & a blend of Fuggles and Styrian Golding hops. Expect a delicious full-bodied toffee flavour and a fruity finish of figs, raisins and dates. Hobgoblin: Born Different.
Hops: Fuggles & Styrians
Malt: Pale, Crystal & Chocolate
Only bottled Hobgoblin Ruby is 5.2% which is this listing. Canned, cask (tap and hand-pull draft), and 5L mini-cask's of Hobgoblin Ruby are 4.5% and reviews of them belong under that separate listing.
Drink legendary. This distinct ruby beer’s sweet caramel and fruity aromas tease the taste buds. Brewed with smooth and rich Chocolate and Crystal malts & a blend of Fuggles and Styrian Golding hops. Expect a delicious full-bodied toffee flavour and a fruity finish of figs, raisins and dates. Hobgoblin: Born Different.
Hops: Fuggles & Styrians
Malt: Pale, Crystal & Chocolate
Only bottled Hobgoblin Ruby is 5.2% which is this listing. Canned, cask (tap and hand-pull draft), and 5L mini-cask's of Hobgoblin Ruby are 4.5% and reviews of them belong under that separate listing.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ThisWangsChung:
Reviewed by ThisWangsChung from Maryland
2.49/5 rDev -33.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.5
2.49/5 rDev -33.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.5
11.2 oz bottle into a New Belgium tulip.
A: Pours a dark ruby color. The head is not only healthy looking at 2 fingers high, but also pretty dense in its texture. It fades away deliberately, leaving some lacing in the glass.
S: Honestly, I'm not picking much up here. A faint fruity character offset by a touch of chocolate, and neither qualities become any more assertive when warmed up sufficiently. Not a bad aroma, I suppose, just nowhere near as strong as it should be.
T: Again, it's not BAD, just overly mild. The flavor seems to pick up slightly on the finish and aftertaste, with faint caramel, brown sugar, and toffee. Maybe there's a touch of mineral character here and there. Come to think of it, that's the dominant note - mineral water. Yeah. It's watery. Boo.
M: At first, it starts off too dense and rich for its lack of flavor, but manages to dry out nicely after the swallow. It's not as easily downable as this should be; that doesn't make in undrinkable, though. Carbonation is appropriately low.
O: I mean, it's not a horrible brew by any means...it's just ridiculously mild to the point of total boredom. I can appreciate a good ESB when I come across it (Fuller's ESB), but among the endless pile of ESBs that are mediocre or worse in my opinion (namely, just about all of them), this one is in the 'worse' category. Unless you really like ESBs, get something else instead.
Sep 05, 2013A: Pours a dark ruby color. The head is not only healthy looking at 2 fingers high, but also pretty dense in its texture. It fades away deliberately, leaving some lacing in the glass.
S: Honestly, I'm not picking much up here. A faint fruity character offset by a touch of chocolate, and neither qualities become any more assertive when warmed up sufficiently. Not a bad aroma, I suppose, just nowhere near as strong as it should be.
T: Again, it's not BAD, just overly mild. The flavor seems to pick up slightly on the finish and aftertaste, with faint caramel, brown sugar, and toffee. Maybe there's a touch of mineral character here and there. Come to think of it, that's the dominant note - mineral water. Yeah. It's watery. Boo.
M: At first, it starts off too dense and rich for its lack of flavor, but manages to dry out nicely after the swallow. It's not as easily downable as this should be; that doesn't make in undrinkable, though. Carbonation is appropriately low.
O: I mean, it's not a horrible brew by any means...it's just ridiculously mild to the point of total boredom. I can appreciate a good ESB when I come across it (Fuller's ESB), but among the endless pile of ESBs that are mediocre or worse in my opinion (namely, just about all of them), this one is in the 'worse' category. Unless you really like ESBs, get something else instead.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by BillyNoonan from Ireland
3.77/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.77/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from bottle for this review, although have had it on tap in London many a times. Beautiful ruby amber pour, medium soft head. Subtle aroma of raisin, dates and molasses. Taste follows with toffee and classic ESB bitterness. Absolute classic and one of my favourite English beers. Nostalgia!
Oct 11, 2023Reviewed by JohRvs from England
3.76/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.76/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Look: A rich ruby colour.
Smell: Aromatically fruity with a caramel sweetness.
Taste: Vibrant and rich on the tongue.
Feel: Exciting and full of flavour.
Overall: A very findable ale.
Jul 26, 2023Smell: Aromatically fruity with a caramel sweetness.
Taste: Vibrant and rich on the tongue.
Feel: Exciting and full of flavour.
Overall: A very findable ale.
Reviewed by ThrewRedButter from Massachusetts
3.84/5 rDev +2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
3.84/5 rDev +2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
LOOK
Beautiful Mohagany, ruby red color with transparent body and two fingers of off-white, yellowish head.
AROMA
Dark fruits, cherries, almost Quad-like. Overall subtle, but lots of character
TASTE
Like the aroma there's a theme of subtlety going on but it is highlighted with those cherries and dark fruits. Sweet malts and maybe a hint of grass. It's very pleasant.
MOUTHFEEL
Light with little carbonation. Easy to drink.
OVERALL
A low abv ESB with a lot of fruity notes and toasted malts. Easy to enjoy round after round.
Jun 09, 2023Beautiful Mohagany, ruby red color with transparent body and two fingers of off-white, yellowish head.
AROMA
Dark fruits, cherries, almost Quad-like. Overall subtle, but lots of character
TASTE
Like the aroma there's a theme of subtlety going on but it is highlighted with those cherries and dark fruits. Sweet malts and maybe a hint of grass. It's very pleasant.
MOUTHFEEL
Light with little carbonation. Easy to drink.
OVERALL
A low abv ESB with a lot of fruity notes and toasted malts. Easy to enjoy round after round.
Reviewed by willesco from Ireland
3.94/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.94/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Drank in a Teku Rastal glass. Would choose this over Guinness any day. Bought for €2.50 in supermarket. Dunnes Store/Tesco.
Nice, creamy tan head. Not as good as a Guinness obviously.
Hood smell of raisins, figs, plum, etc.
Nice toffee and bready notes as well.
Drinking under the sun in the back garden
May 12, 2023Nice, creamy tan head. Not as good as a Guinness obviously.
Hood smell of raisins, figs, plum, etc.
Nice toffee and bready notes as well.
Drinking under the sun in the back garden
Rated by Matym92 from Sweden
1.99/5 rDev -47.1%
look: 2 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25
1.99/5 rDev -47.1%
look: 2 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25
Taste of caramel. Ruby color
Aug 07, 2022Rated by mpk2020 from Illinois
3.75/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle from victory station
Jul 28, 2022Reviewed by BigMac59 from Texas
3.92/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.92/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Dark reddish amber (OK, Ruby) with a creamy light tan head.
Smell is malty and fruity, but just barely.
Taste is a toffee and fruit combo, definitely can pick up the raisin, date and fig taste.
It has a nice mouthfeel and a moderate amount of bitters.
I really like it, one of my favorite bitters.
Apparently one of Hobgoblins consistently highly ranked!
Jul 03, 2022Smell is malty and fruity, but just barely.
Taste is a toffee and fruit combo, definitely can pick up the raisin, date and fig taste.
It has a nice mouthfeel and a moderate amount of bitters.
I really like it, one of my favorite bitters.
Apparently one of Hobgoblins consistently highly ranked!
Reviewed by Strid from Sweden
3.9/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.9/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
A great stout-type of beer. I tried Guiness for the first time maybe 5 years ago. I expected a lot and was so dissapointed. It was watery, terrible burned aftertaste, and just overall not a good beer.
This tastes as I imagined a Guiness would taste like, maybe a bit too watery, but it's a dark, sweet, malty, caramelly delicious beer. For me it's too sweet, but it's in the beer style rather than fault of the beer.
It's a great a beer if you are in the mood for a sweet beer. Perfect to food or maybe a dark rainy or cold day. One of my favorites in this segment of beers, but not my prefered style of beer overall. Anyway. Def give it a try, you might like it.
Feb 18, 2022This tastes as I imagined a Guiness would taste like, maybe a bit too watery, but it's a dark, sweet, malty, caramelly delicious beer. For me it's too sweet, but it's in the beer style rather than fault of the beer.
It's a great a beer if you are in the mood for a sweet beer. Perfect to food or maybe a dark rainy or cold day. One of my favorites in this segment of beers, but not my prefered style of beer overall. Anyway. Def give it a try, you might like it.
Rated by Borzov1982 from Russian Federation
3.25/5 rDev -13.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev -13.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Nothing unusual.
Sep 22, 2021
Hobgoblin Ruby from Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd
Beer rating:
85 out of
100 with
2764 ratings
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