Sometimes I amaze even myself with my utter lack of awareness. Tasting this beer was just such an occasion.
I was aware it was a multi-brewery collab created to mark ten years since Carwyn Cellars opened a bar out the back of their Thornbury bottleshop: hosts (and Carwyn sibling business) Fox Friday were joined by Boatrocker, 3 Ravens, KAIJU!, Hawkers and Hop Nation. I was also aware the beer's public launch is at Carwyn Cellar's birthday bash, which is centred around an all-day breakfast menu. And, had I bothered to look at the label before pouring it into a goblet, I'd have seen it was called All Day Breakfast.
However, what happened was I poured it, took a look at it, had a sniff and a sip, and thought to myself: "Of all the brekkie juice like beers I've had over the years, this one really is a brekkie juice-like beer." It was only once my tasting notes were complete and I turned the can from the ingredient list on the rear and read the name on the front that, well... that I realised I'm a numpty. And that, on the plus side, they nailed the brief.
Anyway, the notes: All Day Breakfast looks like frothy breakfast juice and contains many of the same ingredients. That said, looking at the long list of hops and advanced hop products within (Cryo Citra, Citra Incognito, El Dorado, Krush, Sabro, Cashmere, Riwaka Amplifire Hop Oil) it's easy to imagine, appearance aside, you’d likely have ended up in a similar spot without the additions of pineapple, passionfruit and orange zest.
Zesty and juicy, with a textural quality to the aroma courtesy of the hop pellets, it’s got a punchy bitterness punctuating the juice, keeping it lively to taste too. Given it inhabits the citrusy part of the fruitbowl, the experience isn't too far removed from a Buck’s Fizz, a drink Mrs Pint and I only drink with breakfast on Christmas Day, thus making it well suited to such a milestone occasion.
James Smith
Published October 25, 2024 2024-10-25 00:00:00
