The Twelve Brewers of Christmas 4: Hope

Seasonal deckchair dude is back for a new Hope seasonal. They've gone for a Red IPA as the Winter 2020 release. I was hoping for something ruby-clear but it's a bit muddy in the glass. The aroma is bright and fresh, letting the hops (unspecified American and Australian ones) take the lead, with minimal input from the dark malt. The flavour too is hop forward, but not bitter. There's an, ironically, quite sunny, summery feel to it: mango, pineapple and kiwi. Only in the finish does the caramel and toast side emerge. I'm not usually a fan of red IPA, but this one pulls the same trick of the best black IPAs: tasting it blind you wouldn't know its colour. I'll ding it on seasonal character but that's the worst I can say. This is a lovely beer.

Around the same time, we got the 21st in the Limited Edition series: a Double IPA. For no reason I thought this would be hazy, but it's not. They've gone properly West Coast, with a bright deep-gold colour and a slightly rough dry bitterness. The flavour starts at pithy grapefruit and deepens into a waxen sharpness. On the lighter side there are hints of strawberry and plum. 8.9% ABV isn't extreme but still gives it plenty of poke, and there's a rounded warmth alongside the dryness. Overall, it's a very decent show. I never thought I would miss old-fashioned US-style double IPAs but I find myself getting misty-eyed with nostalgia whenever I encounter one these days.

That was followed, logically enough, by Limited Edition 22, a more seasonally-appropriate Oak Aged Stout. This is based on a 7.5% ABV foreign extra stout, a style the brewery has done superbly in the past. It's been given a sackful of brandy-barrel oak chips for additional winter warmth. It looks handsome in the glass -- the tan-coloured head all creamy and thick, peeping over the rim. Oak features in the aroma, but not strongly, and there's a pleasing amount of freshly roasted coffee too. The creamy effect continues in the texture, lovely and rounded; ideal for sipping. I think I served it a little too cold as there wasn't as much flavour as I expected at first. Letting it warm up, I found bitterness to begin, the assertive sort entirely appropriate to a stout like this but too often omitted. Then there's vanilla, espresso and a kind of corky dryness. There's no brandy at all, but this one doesn't need any such novelty factor. It started out as a tasty old-fashioned stout and nothing in the production process has changed that, I'm happy to say.

Trust Hope to take beer styles I'm not terribly fond of and make versions which have me doubting my prejudices.