HopHead
Dark Star Brewing Company Limited

 

From cask at The Albany in London, next to the Great Portland Street station. A proper hoppy English pale here, with floral and citrus aromas and flavors. Not too dry or dank, just fruity and smooth and easy drinking. Really shines at cask temperature. Would order again, great beer.

 

 

Pint at the Old Joint Stock. Clear golden pour, small foamy white head, rings of lacing. Biscuity, malty aroma, grainy. Taste follows with malts and a bit of crispy hops, fading out to a dry finish.

Cask at The Harp, London. Served a bit too warm. Pale golden colour, low white head. Moderate hoppy and slightly citrussy aroma. Distinctly hoppy flavour with a nice bitterness throughout.

 

L: Light lemon colour, good lacing
S: Peach, malt, vanilla, grapefruit, wheat, zestiness
T: Grapefruit, pineapple, peach, herbs
F: Crisp and balanced carbonation, somewhat dry finish

O: 4.25

 

Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)...
L- Mig-gold, pours clear with 5mm cap of white foam. ps@+5mins, holds ok as a now 2mm foam lid.
S- Quite bright+fresh and perhaps a light citrus note.
T- Closely follows the smell. I'm not sure if the citrus is clear, it's more a relatively prominent dry contemporary hop profile. Not much space for malts to get a look in here.
F- Certainly over on the dryer side.
O - Might work better on a hot summers day when craving refreshment than some malt+feel fulfillment on the palate.
Review1985/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the bottle lables to see what I missed! ==> Lable looks like a still from a computer game; makes sense for the target demographic. 3.8% and expensive for it.
500ml bottle BB: 01/06/2022 £2.50 Bought from a branch of Waitrose in London.

I don't know why this has been put under the style of English Bitter, seeing as it is a pale ale, but oh well here we go.
This beer is an excellent session beer with amazing citrusy hop flavours. It is the best golden ale I have had and the low ABV is no issue, in fact it just lets you enjoy more of this fantastic session ale.

 

Cask at Fuller's London Pub, Heathrow Terminal 2, London, England

A: The beer is crystal clear golden yellow in color and has no visible carbonation. It poured with a short layer of white lacing on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of floral hops are present in the nose along with notes of pale malts.
T: The taste has flavors of floral hops and notes of pale malts. There is a light to moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels nearly medium-bodied and somewhat dry on the palate with a low amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is nice and hoppy for an English ale.

Serving type: cask

 

 

500ml bottle. Clear, dark gold colour with several streams of bubbles rising to a thin head that hangs around. Sweet malt nose. This is a nicely balanced, pale, semi-sweet English golden ale with a heft of citrusy Cascade hops. Mouthfeel is slick and slightly oily. Bitterness is light. A fine example of an easy-drinking, low ABV, summer ale. Not complex, not remarkable, but highly enjoyable.

On cask at Akkurat in Stockholm.

Pours a clear yellow with some fine, soapy head.

Smell is hoppy and crisp with notes of citrus and rye.

Taste is floral and hoppy, very clean and crisp, with notes of citrus, rye and a solid, yet balanced bitterness.

Mouthfeel is real ale, soft and smooth with little carbonation.

Overall, a great summer beer, super clean and refreshing.

 

 

This is a beer that will get your attention pretty quickly; that is, if you like a hoppy taste that is not overpowering. At 3.8%, this is a very suppable pale ale that hits the mark. Dark Star are well renowned in the UK for brewing hoppy style ales, and this is one of their best ever.