Dreaming of a white one?

During the too-short lead-in to Christmas 2018 I dropped up to the Open Gate Brewery on my way home one evening, to check in with the final releases of the year. The venue is in something of a wind-down, planning to close for a major refurbishment during the month of February. As such, there were only three new beers for me to try.

Hoppy Return Lager made certain promises with its name that the beer failed to live up to. Though a full 5% ABV, it arrived looking a very pale white-gold colour with no head. It is full-bodied, so no criticisms there, but the flavour was all wrong. For one thing there wasn't very much of it, coming across plain and grainy. There's a strange touch of banana as well. It took me a while to notice that flatness was also an issue, making the dead taste seem even more lifeless. I had it side-by-side with the mass-produced Open Gate Pilsner, and it's nowhere near as hoppy or characterful as that one. It's inoffensive, and has apparently been quite popular. Just goes to show.

I wasn't sure what I was getting when I moved on to the Winter Pale Ale. This was also 5% ABV, and a dark gold colour, heading for pale amber. Though brewed with American hops it did a wonderful impression of English bitter, being dry and tannic. There was a spicy floral-herbal seasoning which reminded me of beers that make strong use of Challenger hops, in particular. The hopping is raw, fresh and cold, the beer smelling like walking into a brewery's hop fridge. Yummy. It's light, clean and refreshing, something I'd very happily have sat over a pint or two of if I hadn't been rushing around.

That just leaves the 10% ABV madman, Spiced Barleywine. This had an even stronger herbal aroma, of real herbs this time, rather than hop-derived analogues. Sweet ginger biscuit is what the flavour offers, with the spicing warming the back of the throat pleasingly. Oddly, ginger isn't mentioned as a feature on the official description, just cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. The texture is remarkably thin for the strength, and it doesn't really match the style. There's a certain richness to it, a long and Christmassy satsuma and ginger finish. But it's also dry and quite astringent. I got a tiny twang of marker-pen phenols as it warms, but thankfully that's mostly masked by the spicing. In conclusion: jolly.

And with that we head into the teeth of my Christmas and New Year tasting notes, starting in England on Friday.