The Hags of summer

Three new White Hag releases for you today, all on a broadly summerish theme.

The first is a Kölsch-a-like called Keltoi, brewed in collaboration with French brewer Mont Hardi. It's a style you don't see much of from local brewers; I guess it was a stepping stone before they had the equipment for proper lager. But it has its place, and a sunny afternoon al fresco is one of them. In the glass it's crystal clear yellow, topped with a rocky head of pure white foam. It's very perfumy tasting, a sweet and sharp burst of concentrated flower petals right from the start. This fades into a gentler cantaloupe and apricot after a moment or two, but it's still no crisp-and-easy quaffer. This beer demands your attention. It's big-bodied too, despite a mere 4.8% ABV. It's not often I find myself wishing for a beer to be plainer and less complex, but I would have preferred something that tastes closer to an actual Kölsch rather than the pale ale this really is.

2021's iteration of the Púca series of fruited mixed-fermentation ales brings Pineapple to the party. Can you believe this is the sixth one? It's clearer than any previous version for some reason: the pale gold of a sweet German wine. Pineapple ice lollies and soft drinks were a regular feature of my childhood, and the aroma from this brought all those memories back. I was expecting a sweet flavour to follow so was surprised at how intensely sour it is, a real face-puckerer, at least to begin. Once you're used to it, it's possible to appreciate the lemon and pineapple flavours bopping around in the background. I wouldn't have thought of that as a natural combination but it really works: the citrus is a second sort of tartness and then the pineapple balances it. An additional herbal complexity turned out to be coriander, which was another surprise, but a pleasing one. As usual this is a mere 3.5% ABV and I think that it might work well as a summer session beer, even despite the intensity and busyness.

Sticking with fruit but shifting to IPA we finish up at the Tangerine Shebeen, a collaboration with English brewer Round Corner. It's certainly tangerine-coloured, a bright and opaque orange. There's a decent amount of juice in the aroma too, sweet enough to shade into cordial territory. I feared it might be sticky, but it's quite light, befitting the 5.7% ABV. The flavour also keeps things easy-breezy. There's a fun citrus spice up front, the sort I associate most with grapefruit rind. Then an ice-lolly orange taste takes over, but only briefly. It finishes very quickly, adding to the soft-drink feel. Nothing in here is identifiable as hops, which is a little disappointing for an IPA, but at the same time it is superbly refreshing and highly enjoyable on those terms alone.

I'll leave the Kölsch aside, but otherwise The White Hag has done a great job of bringing the summer to my beer glass a few weeks early.