The King isn't quite dead

Citrus-infused pale ale is a trend I thought had almost died out. Sure, the beer that made them popular in these parts, Elvis Juice, is still around as part of BrewDog's core range, but new ones haven't been arriving as fast as they used to. Like with any style of beer, there have been some standouts -- O Brother's The Smasher was the most memorable for me -- and also plenty of dreck. Today I'm deciding which pile on which to place FourPure's Easy Peeler.

It's badged as a "citrus session IPA" and is 4% ABV. It pours a wan shade of white-gold and smells mostly of fizzy orange drink. Unsurprisingly, that's the main feature of the flavour too, laced with bitter herbs, and sweetly oily coconut. I guess that's a decent bit of complexity for what it is. The texture is light without turning watery and there's a lingering rough bitterness that could be orange zest but I think is actually a slightly acrid hop burn. It does no harm, anyway.

My biggest gripe is its lack of real fruit flavour; it tastes of pulp and concentrate rather than fresh squeezed. It's perfectly sinkable and refreshing, however, and one of the few of this sort where I'd happily drink another straight away. The words "easy" and "session" on the can are more than aspirational.