Southville Hop
Bristol Beer Factory

500 ml bottle conditioned, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 6.5%. Deep orange to amber colour, moderate off-white head. Very nice aroma of fruity and piney hops, notes of tropical fruits. Distinctly hoppy flavour throughout, tropical fruits and grapefruit, resin and a solid bitterness in the finish, but not too extreme. There is a decent malty backbone to support the hoppiness - a well balanced IPA in my book, can easily compete with most of its American counterparts.

 

 

L- Pale orange/deep orange. Slightly cloudy. 5mm ultra-fine bubble off-white head.
S- Citrus fruit notes.
T- There are distinct fruit notes in this, rather hard to distinguish, it comes through as a fruit-cocktail of contemporary (fruity) hop elements.
F- Despite the contemporary/fruity hops, on the plus side that doesn't come in parallel with the usual brutal over-hopping. I'm also sure the meaty body built upon it's 6.5% helps to balance out the dry/sour aspects of the hops, something sub 5%, esp sub 4.5% contemporary/'hipster' beers often seem to fail to achieve, leaving them one dimensional.
O- It's very hoppy, the hops taste of exotic fruits, but even as a fan of more trad styles I can enjoy this. It's not mouth-puckeringly bitter/sour/over-hopped - it's not like a challenge or competition. It has depth and dimensions, and most of all balance. This is not my go-to style (I'm more trad), but I think they've made a very good job here of luring me out of my comfort zone, and showing me something new that works.
500ml bottle £2.49 Bought from Waitrose in the basement of John Lewis Dept store on Oxford Street London. BB 08/08/20.

 

 

500ml bottle conditioned.
L: Hazy, dark copper (burnt orange with a back light) with two fingers of foaming, off-white head. Leaves a decent cap throughout as well as lacing. Couple of streams of bubbles.
S: Ripe citrus fruit but quickly loses its potency.
T: Fresh, juicy, tangerine up-front with spice and pine in the finish. Light bitterness.
F: Medium/light body, light carbonation, semi-sweet finish.
O: Not a west coast-style hop bomb but a decent British interpretation of an AIPA.

Bottled
Amber body with huge foaming white head
Aroma is nice citrus, a real tangerine dream
Nice mix of malt Biscuity backbone with lemony hops and soapiness
Good carb
Nice balance of US and UK Ipa

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle conditioned. Hazy orange. Wispy head.
One of the better UK interpretations of an American IPA.
Very hoppy (of course). Citrus pine. Soft astringency.
An enjoyable and refreshing start to 2015 for me.