A little history first. A decade ago this month, Holgate debuted Hop Tart, one of the country's first beers to combine sour and hoppy at a time when the terms Berliner weisse and gose were just starting to gain a little traction. It was tagged a semi-sour pale ale and spawned the Blush variant – a real favourite at Crafty Towers at the time – which later became Wild Berry Sour. And now, as they wrap up their 25 Years of Beers series, they do so with another tweak of the Hop Tart.
The Pink Grapefruit edition pours almost as pink as the flamingo-adorned cans in which it comes, with pink grapefruit very much leading the way (no shit, Sherlock). That said, the choice of hops – Talus and Eclipse – was guided by their ability to produce pink grapefruit and citrusy characters so they'd be working in cahoots with the fruit too. The pink grapefruit’s dominance leads to a beer that's less sour (some might call it semi-sour...) than crisply tart.
It's very refreshing, feels like it would make a great breakfast beer at a music festival, and is worthy of a hearty slap on the back for all involved in pulling off a consistently high standard across the 25 birthday beers. Congratulations again on the milestone, Paul and Tash. You've earned your festive feet-up!
James Smith
Watch or listen to Paul and Tash reflect on their quarter century running a brewery in Episode 017 of The Crafty Pint Podcast.
Published December 18, 2024 2024-12-18 00:00:00