Hepworth Blonde

Bottle from no* 78. Aroma is caramel and slightly skunky grassy hop. Taste is sweet caramel, hints of wychwood burnt toast character. Mouthfeel would tell me this is actually an alright golden ale, as its not very carbonated at all, but taste is disapointing.

33cl bottle from Cask & Glass. Gold with thin white head. Blast of citric lemon hop on aroma, a bit flat in mouth, but at least not pukey, before more aromatic lemon hops on end. Quite a good attempt. Plenty of flavour.

330ml bottle, purchased from Bairds Farm Shop, Climping, Sussex (best before 6 December 2006). Hepworths seem to have dropped the "Cool" from the name and its now just called Blonde. Pours a rich fold colour with a big, fluffy, white head. It may start off "luxuriant" but dwindled away to nothing pretty smartish. The aroma isn’t too clean, with more cereally malt than hop. British organic beers invariably seem to use New Zealand hops (as we don’t grow hops organically here), which sometimes seem a bit lacking zippy freshness. Which is the case here. There’s a hint of wet cardboard. Improves somewhat on the palate, although its still a bit short of hop presence. Clean and a touch sharp, making for a quite refreshing beer. Not very lively on the tongue, so the mouthfeel is quite soft. Nonetheless, a marked, lasting, acidity develops strongly in the aftertaste. Could do with a bit more zesty zing.

(Bottle 33 cl) Comes simply as "Hepworth Blonde" - nothing cool here. Unclear, pale golden with a small, white head. Lightly tart nose. Medium body with a marked malty sweetness and some lightly fruity notes. Almost no hops in the finish. Soft and smooth with a high drinkabilitry. 290106

A hazy light yellow beer with a thin white head. The aroma is sweet with primary notes of straw, but also light notes of malt. The flavor has the strongest notes of citrus, but also a light malt note.