Thornbridge Epic Halcyon

Formerly brewed at Thornbridge
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bakewell, England

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Draught at Café 3 små rum, Göteborg, Sweden. Clear deep golden, medium white head. Strong fruity hop aroma with gooseberries, elderberries, and nettles. Medium bodied, soft carbonation. Dry with medium to high bitterness.

Appearance: small haze of suspended dregs. Fluffy white head fades with lace and lingers the whole time as a blotchy head. Golden and straw hues.
Nose: grass, citrus rinds sticky with their zesty oils. Floral in the back with flower petals. Green grass damp with dew continues onward into an explosion of fresh orange zest.
Palate: wow and yum. Lemony, dew green grass, orange rind and zest. Long dry thirst-inducing finish; quite pleasant actually. Very well balanced and attenuated, playful and lively. Fleshy juicy nectarines join the oranges. Underneath lingers a clean bitterness which leans more toward green grass than citrus. Pith in the back swallow. The floral esters/flower petals weave in and out of the flavors, tying them together while also holding its own.
Final Thoughts: neither Eric nor I knew Thornbridge brewed beer, but if all their beers are this good, maybe even gooder, I can’t wait to try some more. Yummy yummy in my tummy.

Cask (handpull) Coach & Horses Dronfield and from the jug, RBESG 2009, University Arms, Sheffield. Like a hippy falling into a drunken citric punchbowl; an inate sense of love spreads with flowers round your ears, knickbocker glory notes to the palate and a malt base than even a fruit-addled wasp would stick to. The third pint was a bit of a struggle, mind...

Cask at The White Horse, Parsons Green, 7th August 09. Amber with a thick, slightly cloying palate. Strength is pretty evident. Hoppy enough but too heavy and flat for my liking.

Cask Handpump at the University Arms, Sheffield 17/07/2009 Very fruity hop aroma. Golden coloured a little hazy in appearance and fruity with a little bitterness and dryness in a crisp lasting finish. Just like drinking pure hop juice this one! Along with Marble’s Dobber this one was my favourite beer whilst out and about around the pubs of Sheffield and Manchester during the RBESG weekend.

Cask (handpump) @ University Arms, Sheffield, England.
Light light unclear medium yellow orange color with a average, creamy to frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, moderate to light heavy hoppy, grapefruit, orange, fruity, mango. Flavor is heavy sweet and hops + shell bitter with a long duration. Body is full, texture is creamy, carbonation is soft. [20090720]

A Mes rate: cask at the University Arms.
Amazing clean gold colour with a thin but stable white head and superb condition. The hops my God the hops!!! It’s got the lot. Citric as hell, grassy and resinous, wonderfully aromatic, sooooooo tropical. Pure sex. The malt base has just enough earth, just enough sweetness and coats the mouth perfectly for the pine and floral finish to stick to. Faint spicy sting from the alcohol. Excellent length to the bitterness. Fanbloodytastic beer.

Cask @ University Arms. Orange brown color, hazy. Grapefruit and oily hops in the aroma. Malty sweet flavor with grapefruit, strawberries and oily hops. Earthy hopbitter aftertaste. Very nice IPA.

[cask @ RBESG 2009] Raisin, grapefruit, lychee, strawberry and some spicy malt in the nose. Hazy bronze under a lacy, thin, white cover. Spicy and salty flavour from loads of hops. Very floral, but too bitter, drowning out any malt flavour. Medium body, low carbonation, spicy bitter finish.

[RBESG, Sheffield]
Cask @ University Arms, Sheffield.
Pours a great, hazy golden, bordering on orange. Aroma has lots of grapefruit, pine, strawberries, caramel and nuttiness. Low, elegant, creamy mouthfeel. Flavour has strawberries, resiny hops, sweet caramel, fruity, flowery. Sweet and bitter in near-perfect balance. Fabulous.