I believe I’ve mentioned before about a noticeable shift towards more beer in cans recently, and this week it was more obvious than most. I don’t mean that brewers are trying to squeeze more in, just that many are moving away from bottles.
Benefits of canning are manifold. The first is flavour: modern cans are airtight, plastic lined and unlike bottles let in no light whatsoever. Oxygen and light can destroy the hop character – as well as many other flavour compounds – in your beer so canning ensures it stays fresher for longer. Fortunately the bad old days of cans adorned with a ‘lager lovely’ and a metal seam leaking rust into your beverage are long behind us. There are also benefits for the environment, being both easier and lighter to transport in bulk and easier to recycle. For me though the main benefits have more to do with my recreational enjoyment, in that they cool quicker (and you’re able to fit more in the fridge), and they are easier to transport to the beach or into the great outdoors without fear of leaks or breakage.
It’s not a format that suits every single beer style but for straightforward refreshment I can dig it, can you?
Crate Lemon Gose (£2.60/4.4%/330ml)
Sharp lemon curd on the nose, with a hint of waxiness, pepper and light herbal notes. Perfect carbonation, tart lemon, a hint of gooseberry, coriander and salt meet on the palate before a long and refreshing dry finish that dry my back gums together in the best possible way. This is a very fine example of one of my favourite styles.
Wild Weather Peach of a Weekend (£3.00/5.6%/330ml)
Numerous breweries, please take note: if you’re going to advertise an ingredient in the name of your beer, please make sure that ingredient delivers. Right from the off there’s no doubting the peach in this one, the aroma is huge from the moment I popped the ring-pull, followed by more subtle hints of passionfruit, citrus zest and a lactose/yoghurt note. The flavour follows a similar path, with syrupy peach balanced by zesty lemon and a slightly bitter note in the finish. A peachy party starter for sure.
Yeastie Boys Bigmouth (£2.60/4.4%/330ml)
Stepping away from the sours, this a sessionable pale with mango, passionfruit, and soft citrus on the nose. The flavour adds a little pineapple, some grapefruit and a little oily orange to proceedings and has me dreaming of warmer climes – or at least a warm bath – to enjoy this tropical treat in.
Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropicana (£2.60/5.5%/330ml)
Another juicy gem which I loved when it made an all too brief appearance in bottles last year, now available in a more train, bath or beach beer friendly package. Like the Bigmouth this has some serious tropical fruit in the aroma and taste, but with a little extra sweetness on the palate which is then balanced out by a dry and bitter finish.
Northern Monk Northern Star (£2.80/5.9%/330ml)
This big and fruity Mocha Porter pours a perfect black and tan, with treacle toffee and coffee on the nose. It’s thick and creamy on the palate with plenty more coffee in the flavour alongside dark fruits and a balanced roast bitterness that lasts in the finish.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here