By Steve the Beermeister:
As I hinted in my previous blog, I would missed day 2 of Hastings Tap Takeover 2023 (website), but on day 3 I visited the Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street TN34 3AR (website), where I met up with a few friends, and Oliver (landlord) behind the bar, dishing out good beer and playing decent music as ever! Not many cask ales here, but all his beers were from Nottingham brewer Neon Raptor (website), consequently, my review is dominated by 'crafty keg' beers.
My first drink was my only pint, the rest were imbibed in two-thirds or halves, and the only cask ale I could drink here, as only the one left, Neon Raptor Filament (5.0%), an IPA brewed with Cashmere and Ekuanot hops. This was a very fruity, slightly hazy beer, tasting of citrus and tropical fruit flavours, I got melon particularly, drying out bitterness in the finish.
I then drank the wheat beer, their 4.7% Breakfast Club, with bananas and strawberries added. Sounds a bit too much fruit? But quite subtle in the taste, different...
Next was their 6.5% keg IPA No No Noise, a 'New England' IPA, dry hopped with Idaho 7, El Dorado and Citra hops, producing a big fruity aroma and taste, pale and hazy, with grapefruit and orange, and a dry finish. I then moved on to the 'dark side...'
These next 4 crafty keg beers were certainly on the 'dark side' with, well, I'll go into them in more detail, starting with the 5.2% Clusters, a peanut and chocolate stout, which I particularly enjoyed. The peanut I found to be quite subtle, but I got the chocolate much more in the aroma and taste, quite rich, but with a dry finish, stood out for me, nice one! 👍
Moving on up, next was the 7.4% (you get why I moved onto smaller glasses now) Total Eclipse, described as a 'Jaffa Cake Milk Stout' which does what it says on the tin! Brewed with cacao shells and mandarin oranges added, I detected a very strange addition to the aroma and taste, which no-one else got, maybe it was the garlic biltong I'd eaten. 😉 But certainly a subtleness from the fruit and chocolate in the taste, not as in your face as I expected.
Then to 2 of their self-named Crimes Against Brewing series, first the 8.0% Coffee, Caramel & Almond Double Pastry Stout, there's a mouthful, indeed! Maybe a wee bit too sweet for me, and I got a hint of chocolate in the taste too, probably from the malt used, coffee in the aroma, and in the taste throughout, and the almond was quite subtle, very interesting!
I finished my visit with the second from their Crimes Against Brewing series, the 10.0% Carrot and Walnut Cake Imperial Pastry Stout, what can I say?!? Had to be done 😏and I thoroughly enjoyed drinking/experiencing this. My notes aren't the easiest to read at this stage, but I wrote: Dark, sweet and nutty, plenty of body (surprise surprise), rich, chocolatey, and I gave it 3 ticks, which means I liked it, a lot... Well, that was an experience!
Here's looking froward to next years Hastings Tap Takeover, and cheers!
