Grand Union One Hop: Simcoe

Formerly brewed at Grand Union
Style: Bitter
Hayes, England

I have to say this is probably the best beer I have had. I tried it several times at the Oxford, Kentish Town, as well as at a private party. It has an aroma that hits you long before the glass reaches your lips. The main characteristic I can give it is grapefruit, although I have had other beers with presumably this hop which were too much like grapefruit juice, not what I want in a beer! Couldnt get enough of this and downed many pints!

Cask (gravity dispense), St Albans Beer Festival, September 2007. Supposed to be the One Hop beer for May/June 2007 but here it is in September, and Grand Union hasn’t published the running order since August so I don’t really know what is going on with the One Hop series. Anyway, this is a mid gold beer with a loose white head. Lashings of leafy, spicy Simcoe on the nose. Lots of grapefruit and resinous notes in the flavour, although perhaps marginally more laid back than the aroma, with just a hint of biscuity malt. The mouthfeel is crisp, sharp and refreshing. Showcases the Simcoe hop brilliantly in a UK context. Not sure why they repeated this one but I’m sure glad they did.

Cask. At The Wenlock Arms, London. Oh, my - after a week and a half of pretty much nothing but bitters and ESBs, this was quite a welcome change; Golden Ale? Not by half - try IPA, mate! Poured clear gold with an average creamy/frothy lasting white head. What an aroma - lush, acidic, full-on Simcoe resin/lemon funky bitter hoppiness, just enough mild grainy malt to remind you there’s more than hops to it. Taste - well, the malt was more pronounced, definitely fresh cereal grain, strong hops but more evenly balanced than in the aroma. The body seemed light but had that wonderful cask chewiness to it, solidly astringent and high in alpha acidity, with a very long, tenacious hoppy finish and aftertaste - simply terrific, IMHO.

(cask - Coastguard, St. Margarets Bay) pale gold with dense white head, some lace. Citrus hops aroma. Great Simcoe hops flavor. An awesome cask ale.

Gravity, Merton Beer Festival. Bright gold, lots of dense white foam. A stunning clean and bright hop expression; piney, catty, grapefruit hop goodness, reaching out of the glass to slap your face and assert respect. Catty carries over to the flavor, adding cinnamon and mineral. Mouth filling, nose tingling--a really serious hop punch-up at 4.5%! Just enough light toast to counterpoint the hop expression. I suppose it’s odd that the most genius expression of all-American Simcoes I’ve had is an English beer, but maybe not. At any rate, this is it.

I’m pining for more...

Cask at Merton. In excellent nick, congrats to Fin. A stunning single hop beer. Perfect for a day outside listening to bands, eatting dodgy burgers. The flavours just went on and on.

Cask at Merton Summer Beer Festival 06-07-07. What a stunner. For me when I had a sneaky taste of this well before we opened this beer and the Bowman Quiver were always likely to be fighting it out to be my favourite, but what a contrast. In the Red corner was the Grand Union Simcoe a beer that was looking for the big knockout it was an out and out impact beer that was exciting, vibrant and a big hitter. In the blue corner was the Bowman Quiver equally exciting but more prepared to go the distance and seeking to come out on top on points, on this occasion the Grand Union Simcoe come out on top but for all it’s attributes it was taken quite a long way by the Quiver. This beer poured golden with a superb clarity, the hoppy nose hit you straight away stunning aroma of grapefruit. The taste just zapped you wow what a zapper the citrus just smacked home, and it didn’t stop there that grapefruit and bitterness just kept on lingering, christ you get your moneys worth with this little beauty you can still taste it for ages afterwards. It reminded me of the old ’You’ve been tangoed advert’, with this beer you really had been Simcoed, it seemed like someone had came up with a half of hollowed out grapefruit and then proceed to rub it all over one’s face and stuff it in the mouth before legging it. I warned people to be wary of what they drank after this as you really needed something that would counteract that bitterness afterwards, when I initially tried this on Thursday I had a couple of more standard gentler bitters after which were totally ruined by this as the bitterness from the Simcoe was still evident in everything I drank, you needed a porter or the Smokestack Lightning after I felt. A truly great bitter, it’s just a shame that it will only be around for this month. This was joint Beer of the Festival along with Bridge of Allan Red Mist

Cask conditioned at Merton Beer Festival ’07. Amber with white head. For me, the beer of this Festival, beautiful hop aroma, I think the first time I have given a 10 for aroma. I wrote hops **** at the time and why change it, I like what this brewery does in presenting the different ingredients like this. Lemony, grapefruit, dusty and magnificent.