Many of you will know that my beer mantra is always to opt for a beer I’ve never heard of, where possible. When I see a brewery I’ve never heard of, happy little pixies do happy little dances somewhere inside me. So, Best Mates Brewery? According to their website, the brewery is situated in the Oxfordshire countryside and was founded in 2007 by Darren Weal and Guy Bosley who are, presumably, best mates.
The beer, which is billed as an IPA, pours light and lively with lots of bubbling and a fair visual condition. The nose contains lots of sweet fruity notes with heavy hints of kiwi and banana. The fresh, sweet and fruity aromas give way to a lively mouthfeel with sweetness coming through to the aftertaste which begins with heavy levels of sweetness at first, morphing into a unique fruity bitterness. The hops kick in much later but have a good, strong presence.
The aftertaste is one of apples and has a bittersweet quality – an odd one to get your head around. The hops linger well into the aftertaste and give an underlying watermelon freshness with an almost ciderish quality.
