First taste of Kew Brewery: Pagoda No. 1 and Botanic

It's always exciting to try a beers from a brand new brewery - especially when you know nothing about the brewer or the beers.

So it was that I trekked down to the Kew Village Market on Sunday 7 June, in the early afternoon, to pick up a pair of beers from London's newest upstart, Kew Brewery. With two beers to be had, it was a fairly low-key beginning. But through a brief exchange with the brewer, I gather he will have a steady core range of about six beers, augmented by the occasional seasonal and one-off.

The first two beers are, to put it simply, relatively conservative in their ambition. That's not a put-down, though. I think any serious brewery should master the basics before exploring more challenging territory. One must learn to walk before one learns to run.

The first beer I had was, appropriately, Pagoda No. 1. This initial iteration "in a series of Pale Ales celebrating different English hops" features Target and Fusion hops. I've met Target hops before (I'd say they're smooth, oily and a bit earthy), but I'll be honest, 'Fusion' is new to me. At any rate, I liked the beer. The malt character, biscuity and ever-so-slightly toasty, is almost as forward as the hops, which are a little citrusy, with touches of grass and hay. It's not a 'look at me' beer, which I appreciate in the context of a 4.5% abv pale ale. Whether you are a traditionalist or more in favour of progressive beers, I think you will find something to like in this one.

Next up is the Botanic, which, I would say, is arguably the more confrontational beer. Styled by the brewery as an amber ale, this beer lives up to its name in appearance. Thereafter, this is a beer defined by British hops, namely Challenger, Northdown, Goldings and First Gold. There are a lot of toasted leaves, bitter grass, dried berries and beat-up leather. Thankfully, there is enough malt structure here - think grainy toast - to provide ballast. Overall, it's a fairly prominent hop profile packed into a relatively slender 3.9% abv frame. That said, the beer manages to strike a pretty healthy balance. Fans of British hops will find lots to love here.

To close this one up, I would say that I'm satisfied with the first cuts from Kew. Both of these beers are solid and, given their relatively traditional aspects, they will certainly be met with open arms by certain drinkers. I'll be very interested to see where the brewery goes from here.

Beer Tasting: Partizan Pale Ale Centennial Citra

This beer was sourced from the brewery. It pours well and hazy gold with a moderate, frothy and pure white head. The nose has a lot of nice fruity hops in it, stuff like mango, grapefruit and melon, along with an enticing pale malt breadiness.

The flavor is lightly sweet with restrained juicy hops, mild lemon rind bitterness, white bread, pithy grapefruit, mandarin orange, slight drying minerals. It's light bodied with fine, massaging carbonation.

Very mellow resinous hops in the finish, with suggestions of pine needles, more juicy fruit character, and just the right amount of balancing pale, bready malt sweetness. A great pale ale. Effortlessly drinkable.

Beer Tasting: Naparbier / Beavertown The Sun Also Rises

This beer was launched last year in September as part of the Rainbow Project, organised by Siren. It's styled as a saison and has been aged in sherry barrels. At 9% abv, it's certainly a potent beverage.

The beer opens with a hiss and reveals itself to be a very slow gusher. It pours a clear, glowing orange-gold, wildly effervescent, with a large, billowing white cream head. There's lots of stewed citrus fruits in the nose, some melon, pale wood, peach and tangerine. The flavor is medium sweet with lots of gooey citrus fruits, honey, moderate boozy kick, some white grape, slight woody dryness. Medium to full bodied with immense, mouth-filling carbonation. Sticky sweet on the finish with touches of caramel, alcohol warmth, peach, orange. It definitely drinks like 9% beer. There are some interesting characteristics at play here, but little nuance or grace.

Overall it's a nice beer, but not something you would want to - or could - drink a lot of.

Beer Tasting: Brew By Numbers 02 | 05 Golden Ale - Mosaic & Chinook

I picked this bottle up at the brewery. It pours fairly hazy, deep gold with a super tight, creamy off-white head. The aroma holds ripe orange, some bread, melon. The flavor is light to medium sweet with a sturdy, bready malt base, some ripening berries, orange, mango. Light to medium bodied with fine, creamy carbonation. 

Quite clean on the finish with further pronounced bready pale malts along with the juicy hop character of melon, orange and mango, along with secondary notes of berries and pine. A very tasty beer, nicely balanced overall. I could easily knock back a few glasses of this.

Beer Tasting: Brew By Numbers 02 | 08 Golden Ale - Polaris & Cascade

I sourced this  beer the from the brewery. This 'golden ale' is really more of a golden ale/ American pale ale hybrid, in my own opinion. All the beers in this series from BBNo tend to be a bit stronger than what one might consider a typical British golden ale; but at the same time, they are often breadier and not quite as lean as a by-the-book American pale ale. Whatever you want to call it, this is a very nice beer that strikes a good balance, which makes it phenomenally drinkable.

The beer pours a rich, hazy gold with a large, frothy white head. There's a lovely aroma with lots of juicy orange and tangerine, underscored by bready pale malts. The flavor is light to medium sweet with a nicely rounded, bready pale malt backbone, pleasingly dynamic citrusy hop character, just hints of tangy tangerine, mild bitter orange rind, pine and touches of sun-kissed hay. 

It's light bodied with fine, massaging carbonation. This beer finishes juicy, full and rounded, with continuing pale, lightly doughy bread and ripening citrus fruits, along with a slight mineral edge that cleans things up well. This is a very smooth beer and the elements all come together impressively well. 

Beer Tasting: Gipsy Hill Beatnik

I picked this beer up at the London Beer Lab. It pours perfectly clear, lightly effervescent, with a sturdy white froth that lingers. The aroma is bright with grassy and floral hops mixed up with rindy citrus notes, notably tangerine and orange. The flavour is well balanced, with good up-front grassy bitterness that is balanced by a lean biscuity sweetness. There are also additional notes of citrus fruits, some orange rind and grapefruit pith. Light in body with spritely carbonation. 

The finish is pretty clean with only moderate grassy, resinous hop character, further citrus rind, and pleasant balancing pale malt sugars. There’s a slight cleansing minerality in the aftertaste, which I don’t mind at all. The more I drink of this beer, the more I like it. There’s a lot of character packed into its 3.8% ABV frame. 

Low alcohol pale ale is certainly not a flashy style, but when done right it’s a thing of beauty; this one is done right.

Beer Tasting: By the Horns Samba King

The first beer of the evening is By the Horns Samba King. This World Cup-inspired beer is a "rye blonde ale brewed with Brazilian lime and lemongrass". That's a fairly ambitious ingredient list, but I'm happy to say that the brewers pulled off a very nice beer.

The lime and lemongrass really carry the beer from beginning to end. The aroma has a lot of lime zest, a bit of lemon rind and some grassy, citrusy hops. It's not overly sweet but there is a nice doughy, biscuity sweetness that serves as a decent base of operations for the exotic additions. The bitterness is mostly grassy but you also get some juicy citrus aspects as well. The body is light and the carbonation massages. The beer has a grassy finish with oily citrus, light zippy lemon-lime, and some further pale bread sugars.

The lime and lemongrass could perhaps be scaled back slightly so that they are more like accents rather than the main attraction, but that's just a minor qualm. Overall it's a nicely refreshing and well crafted beer. (Score: 3.6/5.0)