a swift one - Green Hops Are Go !
Visit the a swift one site
As previously reported on a 'Swift One', this is the time of year when some breweries get to work and brew some beers made with this seasons fresh, green hops instead of the usual dried variety and this weekend I managed to get my hands on the Rat Brewery version.
'Green Rat' weighed in at 4.8% so was a fairly strong bitter. So what did I expect ? Well, not quite I got. I expected a clean tasting, fresh, hoppy beer. What I got was something a bit different, but nevertheless an excellent beer. The hops gave the beer a resinous, slightly oily mouthfeel, and an interesting flavour. None of the fresh hop taste I expected but a really good balance between grassy tastes and the malty background to give a really well crafted beer. The 'nose' was a little disappointing however, a bit bland in my opinion .It did drink a little 'heavily' and one pint was probably enough, but that is not to say I will not hunt it down and try another.
There was nothing on the pump clip to suggest which variety of hops were used, which was a shame, but the assumption is that they will be a locally grown English variety.
Nevertheless, green hopped beers are something different and the green hops give the drinker something else to try, even though due to the small window of opportunity to use them, they are only available for a short time. If hops are your thing, hunt the green hopped beers down and try them out. You may be surprised. I was.
(Sorry could not resist the photo...not exactly how a green hopped beer appears I must admit)
More...
