Williams Brothers Otis Blood Orange IPA (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

I can't help feeling I should keep this beer for Halloween. However, Williams Brothers Otis Blood Orange IPA sounded too enticing to leave on a shelf. This India Pale Ale was brewed with five different malts, four different hops and bitter blood orange. At 5.9% in volume, this blood orange India Pale Ale even has a little rye in it, which is my favourite ingredient in beer.

I've tried orange flavoured beers before and remember that they go particularly well with fishy meals. So I probably should have had this beer last night with my fish fingers and chips. However, tonight I have a Chinese takeaway, where usually I have Pork Yuk Sung, and also peppered steak, so never mind.

On opening the can there was a tangy orange aroma. The orange smell was so strong that wearing a blindfold I would likely have sworn this was a soft drink. Deep golden in colour, Otis Blood Orange IPA poured with a frothy head. Still the blood orange aroma was very prominent, making me wonder if this India Pale Ale would taste of anything else.

On first taste the soft drink first impression faded instantly. Yes, there was tangy bitter orange flavour throughout this India Pale ale, but the complexity of flavours directly underneath this bitter blood orange flavour was quite something else, there was a combination of sweet malts fighting to break through all of that orange, and then a variety of bitter hops were pushing down the malts and jumping up in great enthusiasm to be noticed. Sadly I didn't find the rye. Still blood orange was the dominant flavour throughout this Otis Blood Orange IPA. Well, blood orange is what it said on the can.