Elders and betters

Do I detect a subtle shift in the way Galway Hooker goes about its business? As a stalwart traditionalist it came late to canning, non-beery ingredients and cartoonish branding, and when the market forced its hand, the results were given a bell to hang round their necks and warn the unsuspecting: "The Seafarer Series". But that badge has been dropped for this new one even though it's very definitely chasing that craft dollar: there's even a skeleton on the label to get the message across properly.

Hooker has, in fairness, swerved the cringey craft name phenomenon, so instead of some nonsense like The Beer Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike, this elderflower ale is called Elderflower Ale. It's 5% ABV and a medium orangey-yellow shade with substantial haze. I like things that taste of elderflower so was looking forward to that distinctive sweet and breezy summer flavour. Unfortunately, that's probably something you only get from the syrup, and this is using the real thing, locally foraged, so the experience is different.

The hops from an underlying pale or blonde ale are quite distinctive, tasting quite English with a mix of earthy bitterness and meadowy flowers. The elder is there too: the can says pear and lychee and it's perhaps not quite that distinctive but it is a fruity quality: lemon essence, bergamot and red berries.

Like the skeleton on the can, this is waving a flag for summer. Soft and easy-going, yet full of subtle complexity, it reminds me of the sort of thing one would drink on a warm day in an English beer garden. (A nice one; not the sad picnic table by the bins.) Hooker's deft touch shows through well, and you get enough of the novelty without it turning any way silly. I have no problem with this becoming their normal way of doing things.