Beer of the Week (w/e 7th September 2025)

[ROBCamra]

[Mobyduck]

Surrey, Hants & Berks, a good range of beers all within 15 miles of home this week.

Cask
Oakham JHB
Triple fff Pressed Rat & Warthog*
Steam Town Stoke*
Elusive Refresh Mango & Lime
Crwr Otley Oxymoron*
Fernandez Shwarz*
Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack*
Fyne Ales Longview*
Elgoods Mocha Porter
Longdog Kismet (Dry Hopped Festival Special Edition)*
Northdown Buck*
Northdown Squidly Diddly
Stardust Meldora
Utopian British Pale Ale*
Iron Pier Joined At The Hop Chinook & Bullion
Island Earls RDA*

Keg
Ten Tun Total Bicep*
BrewDog Hazy Jane Guava*
Pressure Drop Bend & Stretch*
Electric Bear Saturn Round Doing Nothing
Electric Bear It's A Hard Nox Life*

Several contenders but I'm going with Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack, in fine form at the Basingstoke Beer Festival held at The Basingstoke Sports & Social Club. I don't often have a lot good to say about Basingstoke but the beers here were, in the main, exceedingly good.

[aleandhearty]

Just a few pre-curry swifties, this week.

Tiny Rebel - Gold Crush.
Abbeydale - Black Mass.*
Abbeydale / Loch Lomond - Live, Laugh, Loch Lomond.
Thornbridge - Jaipur.
Moorhouses - Blonde Witch.

Normally, Jaipur would have been in the running, but it was very end of barrel-ish. So, the easy winner was the Black Mass, a huge Black IPA. Sampled at The Cricketers Beerhouse, Horbury.

[Bucking Fastard]

Little Stone,St John's Wood and Poplar

Black Sheep -- Blonde
Adnams -- Mosaic Pale
Guiness -- Stout (keg)
Inbev -- Stella (keg)
Carlsberg -- Lager (keg)
Timothy Taylor -- Landlord
East London Brewery -- Jamboree
Leffe -- Blonde (keg)

A poor week and by default BOTW goes to Timothy Taylor Landlord in decent nick in Star of the East amongst a real ale desert.

Next week all about the footie.

[Wittenden]

Kent:

Just the sole, but delicious pint of Goacher's Special House Ale.

[Thuck Phat]

East again:

Brancaster Oystercatcher*
Barsham Golden Close IPA*
Moon Gazer Jigfoot
Brancaster Tropical*
Moon GazerCheeky Jack*
Guinness

BOTW Brancaster Tropical. Something of a departure for Brancaster with subtle hints of, as the name suggests, tropical fruit. Refreshing, not overpowering and easily passing the 3 pint test at 4.5%.

[Tris39]

Purchased in error as the name was Hop Grenade, with the strong flavour of green hops. However, not all was as it seemed. So:

B?OTW goes to Dudda's Dun - Hop Grenade at the Wenlock.

[Mobyduck]

Purchased in error as the name was Hop Grenade, with the strong flavour of green hops. However, not all was as it seemed. So:

B?OTW goes to Dudda's Dun - Hop Grenade at the Wenlock.

Cider.jpeg

[Tris39]

Cider.jpeg

Yes. I can see that now, but if you see words like 'Hop Grenade' and 'green hop', you don't expect to check to see if it's electric soup.

[Mobyduck]

Yes. I can see that now, but if you see words like 'Hop Grenade' and 'green hop', you don't expect to check to see if it's electric soup.

On your recommendation Tris I gave it a go yesterday.
Wenlock Hop Grenade.jpeg,
Wenlock Hop Grenade 1.jpeg
Decent Cider but won't be my BOTW.
It's a sign of the times that four of the ten handpumps were given over to Cider in the Wenlock Arms, leaving five beers with one turned clip.