I've just been out for a run. London is hot tonight - the sun might be in, but it's still mighty hot out there. This beer is in danger of lasting about thirty seconds because I am THIRSTY.
Anyway, this one stands out in the case because it's Hawkshead. I've heard a lot about Hawkshead, but I'm yet to try their beer. 'Red' is 4.4% ABV and is made with "English hops, malted barley and yeast". Could mean a lot of things then.
Today's glass is a nod towards the trip to Pilsen and Prague that I'm just back from ... in case you were wondering.
The aroma here is full of sweetness, hard-boiled candy sweetness, some caramel, toffee and burnt sugar. This follows through into the taste, lots of hard-boiled sweets and caramel; it feels sticky and sweet and like a whole shed-load of crystal malt was used to make it. There's a slight spicy, grassy hop note in the background that I immediately associate with English hops. It then finishes with a slight burnt sugar dryness and a bright, short-lived, punchy bitterness. There's some metal right at the end there too.
This reminds me of the Shepherd Neame beers I used to drink back home. It reminds me of them a lot!
Decent. Not really my sort of thing, but pretty decent.
And, to end, a question. Is this a summer ale? Drinking this one I'm instantly cast into autumn: browning leaves on the ground, the fire being lit down the pub for the first time - a beer that's not quite a winter warmer, but one that's nudging you in that direction.
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