位於英國Cheshire郡的一個『紅柳』小酒廠 – RedWillow 真行，是又一個家釀興趣濃厚轉而投身貢獻釀酒業的好例子。最近，底下嚐的這款Wreckless還拿到了SIBA 2012年啤酒評比的跨種類的總冠軍銀牌獎，還是款美式的Pale Ale喔~~ 用了Citra和Amarillo酒花，但整體的感覺聞起來又像極了充滿酵母異香的比利時淡色啤酒。

他們的酒名，倒是另一個賣點 – 讓人摸不著頭緒的賣點… 都一個字，以 –less 結尾的字。有趣的有： Ageless、Headless、Directionless、Endless、Heartless、Sleepless、Peerless、甚至Faithless！我想，改天email給他們個挑戰，釀一款Hop(e)less、或者Tasteless的啤酒看看他們怎辦啊？嘿嘿嘿…………

RedWillow, Wreckless Pale Ale, 4.8%abv. (American Pale Ale)

Purchased from the BeerRitz online beer shop; bottle-conditioned in a 500ml slim brown bottle, BB March 2014, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass. Notes: according to the website of the brewery, Citra and Amarillo hops are used in this brew. Also, it has won a Gold medal in the SIBA National Champion 2012 challenge in the Premium Bitter category, and is awarded Silver in the Supreme Champion category.

4/5 Appearance: pours a dark golden colour, with sizable bits of yeast sediments floating in the beer, as the constant flows of carbonation buttresses a well-lasting, thick layer of off-white frothy head.

4/5 Smell: very aromatic and estery, almost like a cross between those exotic-fruity and yeasty Belgian pale ales and hoppy (but very pale take on the) American pale ale style; the hop mixture shows sweet white grapefruits, green mangoes and passion fruits, underlined by a rather substantial aroma of mildly lactic yeastiness much in common with a Belgian strand of ale. Intensive sweetness comes from very pale malts in the background. All in all, lively hoppy and estery, not without a good input from the pale malts.

4/5 Taste: effervescent on the palate, the foretaste is pleasantly hoppy, showing signs of sweet grapefruity notes from the American hops on a par with thin-bodied maltiness; as the flavour settles, the mildly spicy and citrus-peel-like tannic bitterness creeps up but only in a moderate manner, lightly chewy, just about enough to render a good depth. Pretty “quiet” in the aftertaste, where the remaining exotic estery elements serve to prolong the enjoyment by a small margin. A few sips down the throat, interestingly the bitter feel of the hops comes more forward.

4/5 Mouthfeel & 4/5 Overall: refreshing on the palate as a result of successful bottle-conditioning, this medium-bodied and deliciously hoppy pale ale shows a more pronounced nose than flavour profile, but all in all very clean, balanced, and a good candidate for a session type of APA. A well-deserved winner on the SIBA awards, but I suspect those are for the draught version. I can’t wait to try it on cask!

--Yau (27/05/2013)