I'm sure we're all hoping that this year will be a brighter, safer and happier year for everyone. I have hope that this will be a year of healing. For the last six weeks or so I have been working hard as the project manager for the technical side of vaccination centres in the NHS. I have an excellent team of people working hard with me, and we've already had our hospital and two general practitioners go live before Christmas. They have been vaccinating hundreds of people from front line staff to vulnerable 80 year olds and overs. In the next few weeks more vaccination centres will go live and we'll be helping to save thousands of lives in the coming months. So busy, busy...
To cheer in the New Year and year of new hope, I have a beer from our Scottish neighbours. This Up State pale ale was produced by Stewart Brewing in Edinburgh. It's brewed with American hops for a citrus bitterness akin to grapefruit, so I'm suspecting Chinook hops are chiefly involved. At 5% in volume there was a bitter citrus aroma on opening the bottle which indeed smelt of grapefruit. I do love grapefruit juice at breakfast time, so I often wonder if this type of pale ale would be a good 'hair of the dog' or 'liquid breakfast', as similar to the traditional liquid lunch.
On taste this deep golden Up State pale ale pounces on my palate from the get go with its strong citrus grapefruit bitterness. This bitterness keeps on giving for much of each lavish mouthful. The sweet malts kick in after a while smoothing and also working well with the grapefruit citrus hoppiness, with both flavours dancing a merry jig into the aftertaste. A moreish treat this Up State pale ale is definitely a winner for any celebration. I'm glad I picked it for this New Year. So may it be a happier year for us all. A year of hope and a year of healing.
No comments:
Post a Comment