Hop House 13 Review

The background

So it was only an amount of time before big multi conglomerate mass producing company attempted to bully the little guy out the way with it’s own take on something ‘crafty’. Guinness are the culprits of this, the most heinous of crimes, taking something beautiful, something powered by the little guy, something standing for higher price better quality and reproducing it to see what happens. The saddest fact of them all, they’ve done mildly okay.

Hop house 13 is a 5% deep golden in colour ‘larger’ (although I very much question the likening to this claim) Price varies - they've taken the high price small volume thing but tried to undercut the original crafters (of course) generally 4 for £4.

The smell

The smell of it is something straight out of craft beer 101, almost as if it’s superficially enhanced it’s that ‘traditional’ which probably raises a good few questions. It’s hoppy (probably no surprise given the name..or is it?) Well being from Guinness naturally they used their own yeast, but actually have numerous hops in Galaxy, Topaz and Mosiac an international selection from USA and AUS. Now Galaxy from AUS is what makes it incredibly fruity smelling (and slightly tasting) but that’s not the main smell you get. Topaz again from AUS is incredibly fruity hop which has undertones of floral aroma again not the main smell. Now Mosiac is where the real smell comes from, it’s earthy and well kind of groundy, what you would typically associate with a ‘hoppy’ smell, Mosaic is that much of a powerhouse in the hop world you can actually make a strong IPA from using a single hop, Mosaic.

The pour

The pour is incredibly good, a lot of beer especially traditional ‘old man’ ales and Guinness feel like from pour to mouth is about 4 hours waiting for it to settle then pouring the next half. But Hop house got it right, a nice straight pour which musters the smallest of head, now I must admit I’ve poured a lot of beer in my time so I’m probably not the sloppiest poorer, so to test this good pouring I borrowed the Mrs and said ‘pour this see what happens’. After the glum look of ‘Sam what are you even doing’ she agreed and poured a straight pint with minimal head, much like mine. Ready to drink in seconds, just what you want from a beer especially a refreshing cold one.

The taste

Let's be honest did we expect much? No not really, a mass produced attempt at a knock off craft ‘lager’ but surprisingly, no actually it’s pretty stale initially but inoffensive. It’s pretty boring in nature, much like most mass produced lagers, little flavour, little anything really. Considering it has the king of Hops in it, some how they’ve got all the smell from Mosaic and none of the taste, which makes me think the smell is enhanced somehow, no way can there be noticeable amounts of Mosaic in this and it taste so bland. Despite it being so bland, the after taste is incredibly soothing and all in all it's very refreshing, the kind of beer garden drink alternative for the summer.

Conclusion

Is this a beer to crack open to enjoy? Probably not.

Is this a beer to really sit back and lose yourself in the beer world? Not at all.

BUT

Is this a beer that is refreshing? Definitely

Is this a beer that I could see myself drinking a lot of? Probably on a hot day.

It’s not the best beer you’re ever gonna have but it’s okay, it’s not a bad effort from a big company trying it’s hand a craft approach. Overall I would give it a 2.5/5.

Would recommend for:

• The lager drinker who wants a dabble in the craft world but probably not too much.
• Someone who is very hot and thirsty.
• Someone who likes to pour beer for the satisfaction of good manageable head...giggity.