Heed the call

Hey, remember Siren? Once one of my consistent favourites among the new-wave "craft" British breweries, I just sort of lost track of them. UK brewing moved on and the most-discussed ones became producers of beer I didn't really like, by and large. But Siren is still there.

Yu Lu dates back to that era, and I seem to have missed it first time round. It's still on the go, though: a 3.6% ABV pale ale with Earl Grey tea and lemon zest. It looks quite plain in the glass, a medium hazy yellow. I was expecting lemon zest in the aroma but dammit if it doesn't actually smell like hops: that analogous resin and zest rather than the real thing. The flavour is a little more forced, with an artificial lemon sweetness sitting on quite a watery texture. The very light base beer and the rambunctious flavourings don't meld well together: the bad sides of both remain apparent in what is quite a busy, noisy flavour profile. While not offensive, it just doesn't quite work for me.

I hoped for something calmer and more integrated from Santo, a dry-hopped lager. This is another hazy yellow job , again smelling bright and zesty. The ABV is dialled all the way up to 5%, though the texture is again light. This is one of those highly hopped lagers that mostly tastes like a pale ale. Not that that's any way unpleasant. There's a bold and very enjoyable citrus foretaste, turning sweeter and dessert-like in the finish; a pie that's half lemon meringue and half key lime. That runs the risk of turning cloying until the lager runs to the rescue, neatly cleaning up the finish, leaving just a subtle and spritzy lime aftertaste. It's an easy-going little chap, but packed with flavour. It doesn't quite deliver on refreshment -- just too strong and strongly flavoured, I guess -- but it's very tasty.

These examples lack the wow I got from the earlier ones. It's just as well the likes of Broken Dream and Calypso still exist.