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Wednesday, August 06, 2008

The Midweek - Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA


This week's midweek tipple came in the form of Belhaven's Twisted Thistle. An IPA in the more traditional sense, it's got a great grassy, sharp nose and those Cascade and Challenger hops are the dominant flavours; dry and fruity. Not anywhere near as extreme as some of the other 'New' IPA's out there, I'd reccommend this for those who want to dip their toe into more hopped beers.

I also thought this would be a great beer to pair with food; although I didn't have anything cooking at the time. Off the top of my head, I think Twisted Thistle would sit really well with a Thai Green Curry, Lemon & Chilli -Spiced Chicken or Calamari.



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm currently sat supping a glass of this now and I have to say for a Greene King beer it has plenty of flavour.

I'm not sure if my surprise is born out of anti Greene King prejudice or the bitter experience of drinking other beers in their stable. I take my hat off to the brewers in Dunbar I have one minor criticism - it's a tad too fizzy for my tastes however, a quick swirl with a pencil quickly sorts that out.

Like you say a good "trainer" IPA

Leigh said...

John - the great GK debate! Sometimes it's hard to let the beer do the talking when GK are involved, isnt it? I did, however, enjoy this, and glad you did too. After my tastebuds have gotten used to ultra-hopped beers, this was a pleasant change of tack - although I thought it retained some really nice qualities! good to know your thoughts as always!

Ale Louse said...

Sure I had this in a Brit Bar in Monterey last year on draught and thoroughly enjoyed it. When confronted with the immense number of hardcore IPAs in that neck of the woods it was great to find something just as drinkable but without the over-the-top potency. Must look out a bottle.

Leigh said...

hah - could the next big thing be 'moderately and not too much-hopped' beers?