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15-11-2011, 12:40
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At some point between when we started taking an interest in beer and now, the niche ‘golden ales’ had found in the market got taken over ‘pale and hoppy’ ones.
A few weeks ago, we had a bottle of Summer Lightning (http://www.hopback.co.uk/beer-shop/summer-lightning.html) for the first time in a while and, although we enjoyed it, we were taken aback at how sweet and yeasty it tasted. It was one of our first loves and, in our minds, was a super-hoppy, crisp, clean beer. Not so. The same day, Neil Chantrell of Coach House Brewing (http://www.coach-house-brewing.co.uk/people.php), said almost exactly the same thing on Twitter.
Exmoor Gold was even more of a shock when we drank it at the George Inn at Middlezoy (http://www.thegeorgeinnmiddlezoy.co.uk/thegeorgeinnwherefindpage.html) a fortnight ago: like golden syrup and, sadly, not that enjoyable. We dumped it: “It’s not you, it’s us; we’ve moved on, but you’ve stayed the same.”
We don’t think either beer has changed, though. It’s just that we’ve come to expect a certain lightness and much more bitterness from yellow-golden ales. At the George, our second pint, Glastonbury Ales Mystery Tor (http://www.westcountryales.co.uk/Glastonbury-Ales-Mystery-Tor), hit the spot: tropical fruit and almost-but-not-quite puckering bitterness were present and correct.
Where does this leave the previous generation of golden ales? Should they change to keep up? And will the same fate befall the current crop of pale and hoppy beers in ten years time (http://beer.bobarnott.com/2011/09/22/does-familiarity-breed-contempt-or-is-it-a-safety-blanket/)?


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