Friday 20 July 2012

The Kernel


A few weeks ago I blogged about some lovely beers from The Kernel. One of the beers we had, although delicious, was a bit too lively on opening and some beer was lost as it spilled over the rim of the bottle. Following this, Evin from The Kernel contacted me to explain why this had happened and then sent a few complementary beers. Not necessary, but much appreciated. I recently read Bob Arnott's blogpost after a similar experience from The Kernel. My feeling is that The Kernel's passion for their products shines through as they clearly want to ensure their customers get the best experience from their products, and will lead me to buy their beer again and again. A couple of bottles were drunk late one night following Baildon Beer Festival, some of the others we had this evening.


121: CSCS, The Kernel, 5.1%
Smells sweet like pineapple, overripe mango, with a slight tartness. A bitter beer, it tastes as it smells, although slightly more subtle. Very lightly carbonated. Delicious. The hops, I believe are Citra Simcoe Cascade and Stella. There is clearly a great art to mixing hops and making a recipe that blends as well as this.


122: Chinook, The Kernel, 5.4%
Smell is more subtle, fruity and sweet. Also some sharpness in the smell. Tastes of malt, with fruity hops coming through as well. Again very lightly carbonated. Slightly nutty taste... walnut maybe, complimenting the bitterness.


123: Galaxy India Pale Ale, The Kernel, 7.2%
Fruity smell, but mixed fruit not clearly tropical. All three of these beers are so different from each other, but also share some qualities. This is much stronger, but more rounded in flavour. A hint of nuttiness in there too.

124: India Pale Ale Black V, The Kernel, 7.2%
My first black IPA. A hoppy, fruity, delicious mix, with slightly more malt than other IPAs. Definitely darker in colour, but the taste is very similar.

My conclusion? Beer from The Kernel is awesome. That, I'd decided weeks ago. These beers, and their quest for delivering a high quality product has cemented my opinion. Try some.

3 comments:

  1. I love the Kernel, one of the best of a new breed of London brewers along with the likes of Camden, Redchurch and Brodies.

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  2. I had the same temporarily explosive relationship with the only bottle of Hardknott Infra Red I've ever had. :(

    Must get my hands on more of that, and some Kernel too!

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  3. My other half bought a pretty expensive bottle last year from Belgium and lost over half of it to the kitchen floor... is always a shame but its nice to get an explanation! Get some Kernel!!

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