Seven Peaks
Drygate Brewery

i believe this one has evolved to be a session ipa now, and its a good one, crisp and clean and modern as the hoppy beers go over here, 3.9% abv now, both times i had it anyway. a lot of malty ipa types over in scotland, some folks doing the new england thing to various levels of effectiveness, but this is one of the more clean and tidy and up to date type hoppy beers i encountered on our trip, blonde and frothy, near clear, very nicely carbonated with a high pure white head, and without a lot of grain interference, more new school west coast in that regard. even the hops smell and taste a little bit northwestern to me rather than european, light pineapple and pine character, a gin note in aroma and flavor, very fresh in my experiences with it, and light on the grain side in terms of flavor, the hops are allowed to really drive this, but it doesnt feel thin or reduced or watery either, so nice proportions in flavor and in texture here. pils-esque on the malt without being too robust, extremely dry overall, and with hop notes of juniper, meyer lemon, light weedy skunk, and cut pine, lightly danky but no real linger to this, some snappy bitterness at the end and an almost lager-like crispness, a very refreshing drink when its frosty cold. a pretty satisfying little beer here, surprisingly contemporary in its construction, and the low abv makes it real repeatable. strong effort here that begs for salty snacks and friends and family.

 

 

Canned in a big old tallboy crafty craft can and purchased from budget supermarket Lidl where it is sold as part of their beer festival
Pours a pretty much crystal clear golden body with fairly good white head
The aroma malty with hints of lemon glucose tablets
Flavour is gooseberry with very slight bitter finish

Can. Clear light amber with a medium frothy head.
Mellow aroma of grassy and citrus hops. Indistinct caramel present.
Tastes the same. Medium bitter.
Moderate carbonation and light body.
OK I guess.

 

 

 

500ml Bottle from Good Spirits Co. Wine & Beer, Glasgow (£3.00):
Good stuff this one, an excellent aroma with lots of pine, citrus & tropical fruits with some caramel as well. It settled down some with the taste but still had a lot of pine & caramel. The best yet from Drygate & one that I'd have again.

Aldi, £2 bottle so this is not retired, still being brewed

pours hazy dark copper with a tiny head. Ugly to my mind

lots of sweet tropical fruit and floral on the nose

taste follows on, mild bitterness for IPA, slightly dry finish. Low carbonation, slick mouthfeel

better from cask

Update: Can Aldi £1.25, a bit better than before I think, toasty malts make an interesting counterbalance to fruity hops. Great value

UPDATE again, now in 440ml cans, 3.9 percent abv and called a session IPA. 18 month BBD, so somewhat optimistic, but at 3 weeks canned it is a very good lower abv pale ale, in the modern mould.

On cask at 'spoons Counting House in Glasgow. Trailed as a Mosaic IPA on the pump and it seems they were aiming for a West Coast IPA despite the beer's fairly light golden hue. The nose was sweet yet herbal with soem caramel, so quite a mixed bag. A bit sherbety to start and slightly syrupy. After a while the combination apparent in the smell creates an unusually pleasant butterscotch flavour (I say unusually because I'm usually put off by butterscotch but I enjoyed this). There is a little leafiness in the aftertaste, but nothing that would knock your socks off. Decent.