Hole Hearted
Oakleaf Brewing Co. Ltd.

 

On gravity pour cask at the 2011 Belfast Beer Festival.

Pale brass with chunky white froth. Melon-y grain and cascade floral/citrus nose.
White pan and tangerine jam up front with candied grapefruit peel hops.
Rind finish and bitter linger. Medium, chewy and soft.

Wow. Properly represents Cascade. Could take on any APA.

A 500ml bottle with a BB of March 2011. Just in time! The name is unusual, and no explanation is offered. The label mentions the use of 100% cascade hops for flavour, and that this ale won the SIBA best bottled beer in britain award 2009.

Poured into a Sam Smith's pint glass. A very hazy golden-amber hue with visible particles of yeast floating around. Good level of carbonation with fine bubbles. Forms a small white head of foam that subsides after a minute or so. The aroma is incredible; a hoppy blast of grapefruit and citrus. Notes of roses and tropical fruit are also present, along with the faintest hint of light malt. Smells amazing!

The taste is a complex of aromatic hop flavours and bitterness with a hint of light malt underneath. Floral and citrus notes abound, as well as a sweeter element of tropical fruit. The dry bitterness is well balanced but insistent, and dominates as you swallow. Mouthfeel is crisp and tingly, with notable astringency. Aftertaste of aromatic hops and a dry bitter sensation.

Fantastic - if only all beer were this good. Stacks of hoppy character and complex flavours. Excellent despite the age of the bottle. A must try if you come across it....
(I noticed that this ale recently appeared in Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain. Looks like I'm not the only one to appreciate how good it is...)

Sampled at the Singapore Beer Fest, then I bought a pint.
Craving the bitter, this one hit a good spot in my liver, er, belly.

Poured a nice golden/amber color that reminded me of London, or at least Pints Pub in Denver. A bit thin head, kind of soapy at the end. Good fluffy white look to it at first.
Smell had hints of citrus, mandarin orange, some twang to it as well.
A nice blend of bitterness, some earthy hops and a bit of yeastiness. A bit chewy in the beginning, then a good crisp end. Not as bitter as I had wanted, but the balance is nice. Wish it were served a bit warmer.

500ml brown bottle, bottle-conditioned; BB APR 09, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: pale golden poured with slight haze and very mild but constant streams of tiny carbonation; a thin layer of fluffy white froth settles down to a blanket covering the beer the whole time.
S: piney, melony and a tad citrussy, plus a mildly sweet flowery (like a honey-drink) aroma at the back... so light and refreshing, with a rather restrained presence of malts. Subtle.
T: smooth, lightly carbonated, juicy... then the delicious pale malts and honey come hand in hand with a lychee-skin-like flowery flavour like Cascade hops should have, leading towards the long aftertaste that is clean, drier, slightly tannic, and certainly hoppy (besides Cascade there's "stink-iness" as of Fuggles as well!) than profoundly bitter. Long finish that certainly tunes up the bitterness by stealth...
M&D: quite well bottle-conditioned, showing restrained fizziness that is just enough to back up the light flavour and balanced hoppiness, which is deep-running rather than roaming around. Somehow my last bottle (yesterday) was drier and more bitter, making me wonder what my next bottle might taste like... Whatever it'll be, these two bottles are pretty good replicas of the cask version. Overall the flavour profile has got a good balance as well as a clear structure; this is a delicious bitter with "a quiet American" twist~~

Appearance: pale gold, slight haze, spongey layer of white foam, good head retention, lace

Aroma: wonderfully perfumey-citrusey-piney Cascade hop scent, strawberries, light malt

Flavor: mild malt sweetness, big Cascade hop fruitiness, subtley bitter, faint hit of multi-vitamin, finishes dryish with a crisp, bitter, slightly sweet aftertaste

Mouthfeel: medium-light body, gentle carbonation, minerals, slight astringency

Other comments: At first sniff, this reminded me of Mirror Pond Ale. Took me right back to my time in Portland, Oregon a few years ago. Though this is a different beer entirely, it is still a heartfelt love letter to Cascade hops.

A great bitter from Oakleaf. This is a nice dark golden/amber colour with a lovely white cap of foam. The aromas are all fresh hops and a bit of malt in the background. The taste is hoppy up front, and biscuity in the back with not much else going on. The mouthfeel is super creamy and easy going as is the drinkability!