BREWER: Hobo Beer + Co., Surrey
STYLE: Lager
ABV: 4.666%
VESSEL: 330ml tin
TWITTER: @HOBObeer
SAMMY SAY’S…
Before we even venture into the world of taste, you have to consider the poor display of packaging from Hobo Beer Co. They have managed to make Three Hop Lager look like a budget brand from a leading UK supermarket. When you’re trying to get a beer out there, you must do better. Anyway, let us move away from the very orange packaging (although it is hard to do as it stands out like a flare on a dark winter’s night) and get down to the important stuff.
The first thing to note about Three Hop Lager is the colour; it’s a golden amber, not unusual for a lager, but it has depth to the colour. And the nose is good for a lager – you draw in the bitter notes of good quality hops. Those bitter notes do carry through to the drinking, but not enough to make it a bitter – it is definitely a lager. The trouble is, those bitter notes don’t hang around on the tongue and you are very quickly left with a metallic aftertaste. While this isn’t although unpleasant, it leaves you wondering what if… what if they’d followed through with the hops in the brew and drawn out the flavour a little more? Well, we could then have been dealing with an altogether classier lager. We could had a lager that has true depth to it’s taste, one that lingers on the taste buds and stays long in the memory. As it is, it has to be said that Three Hops Lager is average at best and the taste is gone almost before you’ve known you’ve experienced it.
With a little tweaking, this could be a contender. But it hasn’t had any tweaks…yet!
Sammy’s Rating: 56%
JYMI SAY’S…
4.666% huh?
Very precise that. Very demonic that. But why? Why do we have three decimal places here? Why is it not just 4.6%? Or 4.7% if we’re being mathematically accurate…
I was looking forward to turning the reasonably cool tin around and all being explained to me. But there was nothing to tell me why we have all these decimal places. In fact there was barely any information at all about the lager I would soon be supping… But there was a sentence telling me that if I visited hobobeerandco.com I could find out more about hobo life… so I fired up my Quadra 700 and started hitting some keys.
Turned out to be a pretty looking site but still no info on my Three Hop Lager. So, I scanned the QR on the side of the can…. Took me straight to the website…. Man I am bored of this… To the beer!
First off, Three Hop smells wonderful! It’s not that often that a Lager puts out a decent nose. Most Lagers just kind of smell like Lager, never offensive but not something to get you excited about either. However Three Hop’s nose has something about it. Pine with a bit of citrus maybe?
Now taste wise I went in to this with a touch of apprehension… I’ve always worked on the theory that a Lager needs to be between 4.6% and 5.5% to taste any good. With Three Hop being 4.666% (flippin ‘el, we’re back to this again!) it was right on the edge of MY bracket..
But after the first sip I settled down, Three Hop tasted pretty good. Actually, Three Hop tasted good. ACTULLY Three Hop tasted better than good. I was a fan! The taste on sip and whilst in mouth is a little thin but as it slips down the flavours start to load up and a bitter after taste left me one really happy chappy. And at this percentage suddenly we have a session Lager that tastes better than good! I never thought I would see the day!
You’ve done well here you cheeky Hobos I tell thee.
Jymi’s Rating: 78%
MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 67%
MOB review next weekend: CAMDEN HELLS by CAMDEN TOWN BREWERY
THE SUMMER OF GIN CONTINUES ON WEDNESDAY WITH SOMETHING EXTRA SPECIAL! IF YOU’RE NOT READY THEN YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME.
#MOBSOG
MUSE ON BOOZE 