Late Knights, Worm Catcher IPA

Finally: Late Knights in a bottle!

I had the pleasure of chatting to Steve when I photographed him for this article. A super genuine and hard working individual who has paid his pub management + beer brewing dues and whose beer now seems to be fast becoming a regular feature anywhere that good beer is sold. What I think has been key to his success (amongst other things) has been his consolidating his rep in local South London (where I am - so I am biased a bit I suppose...!): trying to get a license sorted at the Mr Lawrence Crofton Park premises (a place destined to be mentioned in the beer history books?), a lovely little spot (extended pop-up bar that has really chimed with the locals) in Gypsy Hill and of course the brewery itself in Mr. Lawrence's old lock-up down in Penge (pronounced 'pawn-je', I'm reliably informed).

This IPA comes in at 5% with an orange pour and a light body. Minimal carbonation, the taste was Fanta at first, then the pine sap began to dominate thereafter. A sessionable IPA for sure. I had the bottled Hairy Dog at The Flying Pig last weekend too - I think I prefer the IPA in a bottle, but the Hairy Dog on cask in a pint. (The real star from Late Knights though is their Hop O' The Morning....I could drink that for days.)

I should obviously mention that the labels (designed by Bethany Warren) are spot on branding-wise and also very cool indeed.

Kernel Brewery, Glen Garioch Barrel Aged Stout

The back of this bottle says: "A blend of Imperial Brown Stout and Export Stout. Aged in a Glen Garioch whisky cask. Second Fill." I like the way the Kernel give you full info on their drinks. Bought direct form the brewery this one at a relatively hefty price (not as expensive as the full Impy version though....), this one smelt of tar, T-Gel, london smoke and the occasional sharp vapour of Glen Garioch whisky. Very mildly carbonated and an opaque black with brown tinges. Poured slowly so no head. Alcohol at the edges of the tastes, coffee and maybe the occasional blackberry or sour cherry? (Am I being influenced by the Magic Rock description here? Possibly....) Definite whisky aftertaste - scotch plus that sort of palette cleansing, stripping down effect.

Massively satisfying, small sips only required. Took me just over 1hr to drink the whole bottle so worth every penny. Really rather looking forward to the Imperial version of this drink!

Kernel Brewery, Black IPA

Reappearance of Kernel's black IPA. Nice enough. I've put one down for Christmas, by when I suspect the malts will have almost certainly taken over. Not so much in the way of hops here. There was a metallic mouth feel at the end of the aftertaste. I preferred the collab with Brodies.

Kernel Brewery, Chinook IPA

A sweet IPA from Kernel - we had a home made (paste included) Thai Curry (which was excellent by the way...!) which more or less annihilated my palette, but maybe lemon and grapefruit in this? Massively bitter aftertaste. Chinook is primarily a bittering hop if I understand it correctly, which might explain apparent lack of discernible fruit/resin in favour of almost overwhelming bitterness.

Kernel Brewery, Galaxy + HBC 291 IPA

I'll add the glass/bottle picture when I buy another bottle of this - I seem to have misplaced it on my hard drive (*deleted it accidentally*). Brewed with the Aussie Galaxy and the catchily named new hop HBC 291 from the US. Like Dead Pony Club but 750% better - fuller, stronger, bitterer. (An unfair comparison? Dead Pony Club is actually quite good I think....) Drank 3 weeks fresh, bought direct from the brewery. Palette = roast vegetables and hummus.

Hitachino Nest, Red Rice

This poured a definite pink! I hate this phrase but: it was certainly a complex beer. I almost feel slightly embarrassed to drink clever beers like these as sometimes suspect I might not be experienced enough to be 'worthy' enough of appreciating them fully.... Whatever, I can categorically say that I enjoyed drinking this! It was fizzy like a lager (foamy fizz à la Belgian beer?) with a coating mouth feel and a decent body. Floral at the edges with some sweeter notes - marshmallow? Definite bitterness after sips. A friend of mine sent me some cherry blossom tea (vacuum sealed blossoms) from Tokyo and they brewed the most fantastic cups of tea that I think I've ever had - it's a predictable cliché, but did I taste some of cherry blossom in this beer? This beautiful beer from Hitachino Nest was imported by James Clay who seems to be pretty good at getting decent beers widely available (Goose Island in particular) so hopefully we'll see this beer more widely available soon?

Hitachino Nest, Nipponia

I don't think I've tried the Sorachi Ace hop before this? I'm not sure it's my favourite. Anyway, I think I'd call this a pale ale and despite the high abv, this drink had a very light body, thanks in part I think to the airy yet very distinctive lemon flavours. Quite a high carbonation and mild bitterness. An indiscernible quality here, much like the Hurricane Jack. It almost feels and tastes like it ought to be a session beer, but at 7% (and close to £7 a bottle), it's not. To be clear Hitachino Nest have the most excellent labels in the business. Bought from City Beverage Company.

Brewdog, Libertine

Top drawer BIPA from Brewdog. I've had Libertine from a few places now (most randomly on my bro's stag out in Bratislava - on keg and in great shape), my first bottle didn't come until recently though. Perhaps not as exciting as the keg version (less obviously hoppy I think) but a worthy adversary to the hallowed Brodie's Dalston Black. Singly hopped with simcoe I discovered today! Another tick for that hop for me. Part of their core range now. FAO Sainsbury's: please stock this.

Brewdog, Jackhammer

Noteless once again for this West Coast IPA from Brewdog. I suppose you can know what to expect from this drink: full body encapsulating the marriage of pine + tropical fruit flavours (I've always found that WCIPAs tend to err more towards the hoppy, resiny side of the things, as opposed to, say, the fruitier Kernels or Partizans), not too fizzy mouthfeel and enduring bitter aftertaste. Simon over at CAMRGB said in a post that his version was bottle conditioned - I've had 2 of these now, my first had some very minute 'bits' in, the second was clear. (This post talks a bit about their brewing process which might explain some of the stuff floating in the bottle?)