Brewfist: 24K Golden Ale (Italy: Golden Ale: 4.6% ABV)
Visual: Quite hazy lemon to dark yellow. Moderate off white head.
Nose; Slightly muted ground orange peel and passion fruit hops. Touch of apricot and lemon meringue.
Body: Zesty. Apricot and lemon. Sherbet feel yet creamy. Light bitterness. Cinnamon. Passion fruit.
Finish: Lemon sherbet and hops. Good bitterness. Cream. Passion fruit.
Conclusion: Not what I was expecting. I know Brewfist have quite a reputation for hoppy beers, so the more restrained character of this took me by surprise.
What it does have is a gentle level of hops, and a flavor that reminds me more of the Belgium style wit Isaac. The body is gentle and slightly creamy with passion fruit and a soft lemon flavor. It distinctly does not feel like a standard golden ale.
Isaac suffered a bit from being too light on the body, the extra hop fruitiness helps here but there is a similar underlying feel. Main body it is present but it doesn’t hit too hard, yet despite a nice bitterness the finish feels slightly light.
It is pleasant and smooth with just a touch of prickle to it. Not one I get wildly excited about but a nice beer for general drinking. I wouldn’t complain about it but can’t recommend specifically seeking it out either.
Background: Brewfist is the name most people have heard about the growing craft beer scene it Italy. It was definitely the fist name I heard. Yet, I’ve never tried any of their beers. So I decided this must change and grabbed this beer from Corks Of Cotham. I decided to go with Golden IPA as I’ve been having a bit of an IPA overload recently, so thought something a bit different would be nice. Oddly whenever anyone asked my I could not remember for the life of me which beer I had picked up without looking. I may have drunk away my memory capabilities.