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Craft Beer: Bloody 'Ell – Beavertown's gone and done it again

Beavertown brewery's Bloody 'Ell blood orange IPA – great drinkability
Beavertown brewery's Bloody 'Ell blood orange IPA – great drinkability Beavertown brewery's Bloody 'Ell blood orange IPA – great drinkability

ONE of Beavertown's seasonal offerings is back on the shelves, a blood orange IPA, whose name is impossible to say without putting on a broad Yorkshire accent.

Bloody 'Ell has reared its juicy head again and, going by its previously garnered popularity, it won't be sticking around. The latest incarnation, as with the few that have come before it, sees a few tweaks, but it has still generated a fair bit of anticipation, so I just to grab a few cans and give it a go.

I hadn't tried any of the previous versions so was coming at this with a clean slate – and palate. As with all of Beavertown's output, it comes in a 330ml can and pours a lovely hazy, slightly pale orange colour with a lovely fluffy white head. The aromas aren't immediately arresting, but you definitely get hints of blood orange, orange peel and grapefruit.

So to the all-important taste. I have to say, I was expecting something of a sickly sweet flavour to this, given the blood oranges they've crammed in there, but the flavours are nicely balanced. There's a sweet, biscuity malt before those orange flavours come rolling in. They don’t overpower and there's a gloriously bitter finish. It's well hopped with Magnum, Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo hops, giving that lovely juicy flavour and refreshing bitter end.

After a few gulps, I could detect and slight creamy feel to it and it brought to mind a Joker ice lolly. The drinkability is great, especially considering it comes in at a hefty 7.2 per cent. There's a lightness to it, but still an intense flavour, although you can get through to many with that high an abv.

WICKLOW Wolf have ventured into the canned beer world with Zoso Smash IPA. This red IPA pours a lovely cherrywood colour and the aromas are predominantly malty. There are ever so subtle hints of mango and grapefruit, but the sweet malt carries through into the flavour before an almighty bitter finish. They've sourced the Zoso hop from the Colorado Rocky Mountains and used a German malt. Not a shy and retiring brew my any means.