Skip to main content

Advent Calendar Window 14 - Hoppy Christmas

This will be an odd post based on certain reviews I've read recently. Prior to my first tasting of anything from Conwy Brewery I'd heard that they were producing good things. Then the Stalybridge Buffet Bar started to see a few of their ales on cask, as well as Mossley Organics getting their bottles in. With reluctant hope I tried their beers and found them rather good, especially the Celebration Ale that was part of my Halloween tasting.
 
Since those initial favourable reviews though, I have seen Conwy slated, not least by the rather well respected CAMRGB website. I came across their review of the Celebration Ale whilst trying it for myself and was shocked. Reading the reviews of the other Conwy beers surprised me further. Still, it was my girlfriend who picked up my bottle of Conwy's Hoppy Christmas 4.3% knowing I love Christmas themed beers and I added it to me Advent Calendar. Since then I read a CAMRGB review that tore this beer to pieces too. I started to wonder if there was some bias behind them or whether I was seeing a different side. So I tried to approach this beer imagining that it would be poor.
 
"If I ain't drunk then it ain't Christmas,
You know where to stick those Jingle Bells..."
 
Hoppy Christmas pours clear golden and frothy with a decent marmalade nose and a fresh bread undertone. It's the British definition of sharp and bitter, with a lemon rind hit over a sweet citrus base and a shortbread finish. I'd guess the bittering is plied with English hops, though I don't know for sure, but I find this a decent brew, if not yet perfected. The finish is a tad muddled but at least the tang is lasting and the brewing skills are apparent. It's certainly not a Christmas beer, similar to Mikkeller's Hoppy Lovin' Xmas and Brewdog's Hoppy Christmas, yet it's still a good brew worth picking up.
 
So why were Conwy disapproved of so strongly? I still don't know. This Advent Calendar blog supports the deeply spiced, mulled Christmas beers that so many bloggers seem to despise, but this beer is the anti-thesis to that ideal. Just over halfway through this calendar and I'd like to vent my frustration at those that claim not to like Christmas beer and find heavily spiced beers a sin. That's fine if that's your opinion, but similar to those I called out whilst discussing smoked beer, why would you drink a style you know you don't like? If you don't like this particular beer, why don't you stick to Double IPA's and Gozes through Winter? Nobody is forcing Christ
mas beers upon you. It is the most ridiculous opinion I think I've seen on social media. Yet Conwy's Hoppy Christmas isn't like those beers at all so surely you should love it. Surely....
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

LIVERPOOL - the City that Craft Beer Forgot Part II (and found...)

After visiting Liverpool, one of my favourite cities, in February this year, and not impressing people with my rather hasty but honest verdict on the city’s lack of craft beer, I jumped at the chance to return last week and hoped to come out with a more attractive judgement. A couple of friends and I visited on a day out, with neither of them having been drinking in the city before. It was left to me – or rather, I volunteered – to plan the day’s itinerary and places to visit. I had a couple of new or unvisited places in mind myself, but knew it would be unfair to miss out on some of the city’s famous gems. With around 10-12 hours in which to fit in an entire city, I opted to concentrate on the famous Georgian Quarter and see if we had time for the Dale Street end later on.    We planned to arrive in the city for around 11a.m. just in time to walk up Mount Pleasant to the new-on-me, though I believe it has been opened three years, Clove Hitch on Hope Street for breakfast.

"They Had Their Issues, So..."

      There’s a set of garages to rent as storage units near my workplace. One of them is taken by a local florist that uses it to store flower arrangements for various events, that are more often than not funerals.   As such, at least once a week at 8am I will pass a car being loaded up with flowers arranged into heart shaped patterns or the letters M U M. It is a grounding reminder that, as I mentally grumble my way through the upcoming arbitrary grievances of my ordinary working day, a group of family and friends locally is going through the hardest time. It provides much needed perspective on days when I could do with being reminded of all that I have to be thankful for.   These little moments explain to me why it is possible for us to share a communal loss when a celebrity passes away. Grief is often a personal and lonely experience, shared between a minority of people in your life. When a co-worker loses a relative or friend, it has little affect on me, bar signing of

Ten Reasons Why I Hate Brewdog

There was a time when I thought beer was subjective, when I believed it was there to be interpreted and commented on from a personal perspective. I used to form my own opinions about beer, pubs and breweries and sometimes I’d even write them in this little blog. Brewdog were no exception; I was happy to praise them when they did right and criticise when I felt they were wrong. Of course I now have seen that I was wrong to do this. You see, it’s not about opinions or personal preferences; it’s about following the crowd, doing what’s cool and avoiding controversy. At present it’s not cool to like Brewdog. Despite the fact that I still really enjoy their beers and bars, people keep telling me why I should hate them. You probably already do, as you are well “in” on what’s hot and what’s not. I wasn’t aware of this, the e-mail never landed in my inbox, but not wanting to fall out of the loop I’ve presented a list of reasons why we should all hate Brewdog so I can fit in with this g