Dark Star are one of my favourite breweries. They're one of the best breweries in the UK. It's a shame therefore that some of their best beer never makes it into bottle. Sunburst, however, does.
Sunburst is brewed with Maris Otter pale malt and a multi-cultural blend of Cascade (USA), Styrian Golding and Challenger (UK) hops*. It's lager-gold in colour with a slight haze which, when you consider it's a filtered beer, is a little confusing. I get that grapefruit flavour that's synonymous with Cascades right at the end of the tail, before that comes lots of lemon, like lemon balm or lemon curd maybe, lemon but thick in texture, lemon muted by sweetness. Lemon sherbets before you get to the fizzy bit! And then after all that hop comes a grainy finish, a little like biscuits, a little cereal, right at the end there as it starts to dry out. I think that grainy flavour is a product of Maris Otter malt, it just seems to have character about it that other pale malts don't.
The bottle says "enjoy from the fridge for extra sharpness". I've read that two or three times and I'm still baffled by what it means and how it could be true.
More of that lemon sherbet is showing up as the beer warms, it's interlaced with that Cascade grapefruit flavour and it all sits on top of that biscuity malt. Very nice indeed. As it gets warmer I'm either going mad or there's a kinda almondy, marzipan like aroma there. That will sound nuts**, but if you're drinking along, it might make sense.
This is a solid, pleasant, well made beer. The fact I'm not going mad for it is because it's Dark Star, and when you're drinking Dark Star your expectations are raised a notch or two.
* Note: Cascade are actually grown in the UK too, so there is a chance that they aren't from the USA. I always imagine Alan Partridge when I think of Sytrian Goldings - an interesting bit of trivia about Styrian Goldings is that they're actually derived from the Fuggle hop, not the Golding hop. I always imagine Partridge attempting a joke about "Styrian Fuggles" to an audience that just looks bemused in response whilst he chuckles to himself. Just me then ...
** Pun most definitely intended!
I'm glad you put in this paragraph.
ReplyDelete"This is a solid, pleasant, well made beer. The fact I'm not going mad for it is because it's Dark Star, and when you're drinking Dark Star your expectations are raised a notch or two."
I was expecting a bit more from this to be honest. I like Dark Star, but I don't feel this is one of their finest creations. Don't get me wrong it's still a fine beer, it's just not what I was expecting from Dark Star.
I've not really got much to add on this one apart from what you've already said, although I'm sure there is some TCP in there somewhere, I got a mouthful of it in the first sip, but it appears to have subsided the further I got through the glass.
It's packed full of Grapefruit and Lemon and a slightly Malty backbone to it, but with whats on offer I think I'll stick to HopHead.
Agree with you 100% that this isn't one of the best beers brewed by Dark Star. I just think that because Dark Star set the bar high, maybe we expect more from their beers than we would others.
ReplyDeleteHophead is one of my favourite beers of all time - but you can only get it on draft!
TCP is an interesting one. That would suggest phenolics from bacteria I guess ... definetly not something I picked up on in my bottle.
Oh dear, another top qaulity brew...but with a flavour that is too subtle for me.
ReplyDeleteEither Sunburst hasn't worked in the bottle or Dark Star have just jumped on the "quick, let's produce a summer beer" bandwagon.