Dark Star Hophead

Brewed by Dark Star
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Haywards Heath, England

(cask-conditioned at Olver Twist, Stockholm) Golden with a low creamy head. Hoppy and aromatic aroma of lemon and grapefruit. Lot’s of grapefruit in the flavour, hints of lemon. Firm malt charcter. Grapefruity bitter finish.

[Cask conditioned at Wenlock Arms] Golden coloured. Very hoppy and flowery. Bitter finish. Creamy mouthfeel. Light and refreshing.

Cask conditioned at NERAX 4/28/2005 while chatting with the brewer
Light blonde with tints of lime-green. Small white head, recedes to light foam. Aroma of light hops, grassy, mildly herbal, maybe some oregano and lime in there. . .Flavor of pale malt, bitter lemonpeel, minty at times, some hints of limes, oranges. Tingly carbonation, bit of honey, eminently drinkable stuff.

Aug, 2003 Gravity, Frog & Toad Body Parts Beer Festival. Blond Ale. A lemon or Chardonnay colour - quite attractive for a blonde. Fragrant floral hops. Gentle citric tang - mostly soft grapefruit sprinkled with brown sugar, but there’s an element of orange and a hint of vanilla pod just dipped into the brew. Light to medium body - refreshing and satisfying. Finishes soft with a long lingering dryness. Spanking. The beer of the festival. [4.0]
March, 2005 Dog & Bone, Gillingham. Foam head and creamy texture because the beer was pulled through a sparkler. White lilly aroma. Vanilla and caramel and oily hops. Served cool. Sparkler spoils the beer. [3.2]
June, 2005 JDW, Boston, Lincs. Fresh & fruity with passion fruit and citric notes. This is a great beer, but it does like to be well treated to show its best bits. [3.4]
July, 2009 Darnly Arms, Cobham Lovely soapy drink. Slight toffee - milk toffee. [3.3]

This was my favorite of all the Dark Star beers I saw on tap the last time I was over in the UK. It aims to combine hops like some of the American micros are doing but the bitterness that comes out is tasty and not overpowering. It aims to please rather than overstimulate the senses.

[Cask at The Evening Star, Brighton] An orange beer with no head. The aorm is very grassy and hoppy while the flavor is sweet grassy with a dry hoppy end and a thin body.

Cask at the Battersea Beer Festival 2005. Another good blond ale which seem to be rather popular here at the moment. Citrus hoppy aroma, bitter, flowery. Very dry finish, excellent beer.

Clear gold with a white head, nice lace. Hoppy citrus and grapefruit aroma. Sweet biscuity malt with a nice citric hop kick behind it. Quite dry, very refreshing. Full bodied smooth. Nice.