Canny move

Back in July, time was running short on my Leeds trip. It's awful when time is running short and there are so many beers still left to drink. Luckily, the Head of Steam where I had my final pint has a canning machine (not an official Crowler, I think, but along those lines) so I got a handful to go.

First out when I arrived home, travel-weary, was Wild Beer's Sleeping Limes. Yes I think I can buy that here; it was an impulse purchase. Crowler issue no. 1: the can wasn't full. Probably no harm for my check-in baggage allowance. It's a pale yellow colour with a short-lived head. Crowler issue no. 2, related to no. 1, is that it's rather flat. It feels like it should have some palate-scrubbing fizz but it doesn't. The flavour is less severe than I thought, the lime contributes lots to the flavour but doesn't bring any tang or bitterness. It's a clean but rather dull lager beneath this with a refreshing salty tang. This is simple fare; inoffensive and not really much more than a lager with a dash of lime cordial.

This is more my shtick: I love a peppery saison, so Peppered Table Saison seemed made for me, on name alone. From the ubiquity of Tooth & Claw beers in the pub, I gathered it was a sub-brand of Head of Steam's owner Cameron's. And I've never been a fan of their stuff. Anyway... Short fill and flat: check. The lack of fizz is as much a disadvantage here as it was in the previous lager. The pepper isn't as bright and clean as I'd like. What you get instead is a quite fruity saison with just a hint of spice. Maybe that's what some people want from this sort of thing, but not me. It's unavoidably watery too, suggesting they've been over-ambitious doing this at 2.8% ABV. It's OK; probably not a great beer in the first place, but the in-pub canning process did it no favours.

A black IPA to finish this lot: Ilkley's Mary Hoppins, brewed in collaboration with Five Points. Even with the condition knocked out of it I could tell this was a good one. Only 5.2% ABV but big and creamy of texture. There's a lovely balance of dry roasted grain, cabbagey bitterness and a brighter zingy citrus. The finish is a long summery strawberry and raspberry thing: unexpected but delicious. A paper twang on the end spoils it a little, and makes me very glad I didn't leave it long enough in the can to get oxidised. Would've been better as a pint.

I don't think I can pin all of the blame for the first two beers being lacklustre on the dispense format, but it's certainly not optimal. When there's no other alternative is the only use case I can think of for Mr Crowler. The Head of Steam does a perfectly good line in pre-packaged beers to take away, for example.