Beer Two Birds Brewing Lemon Meringue PIEPA

If you encountered this beer without knowing what it's supposed to be – admittedly, a challenge given the revelatory nature of its name and the whopping great slice of pie on the can – you'd need a pretty duff palate combined with an impoverished childhood and / or long list of allergies not to hazard a guess.

Distinct lemon curd vibes that only get lemon curdier as you go? Check. A creamy, borderline custard like presence in the mouth. Yup. While you might not opt for "slice of lemon meringue pie fresh from the fridge", in this era you're going to plump for some sort of lemony dessert beer.

In the case of the nitro-enhanced PIEPA, it only gets zestier and livelier as it goes, as if you’ve chomped into strips of lemon rind awaiting you in the curd. Apparently, this is the result of lemons plucked from brewer Matt's garden. There's some hop bite that catches you unaware as it sits in contrast to the creaminess elsewhere, but the hopping level acts to keep things from becoming too sweet or cloying, and it is an IPA, after all.

There's some fun-looking beers around the corner from Two Birds, with this dessert proving an appetising starter.

James Smith