Hargreaves Pale Ale

[Mercs Own]

Any one had one of these lately. Sadly it has been quite a while since I have had one these beers and I remember it as a lovely American Pale Ale style with a great malt bill, mouth feel and wonderful hop character - fresh, citrusy, bitter etc

I bought a six pack today from Dans and have so far opened, tasted and put two of them down the sink! Not a lot of hop character on the nose or malt for that matter and an overwhelming metallic flavour - no bitter or citrusy hop character, thin body.... bummer. I have always loved this beer! Obviously I have managed to pick up a bad six pack but I was also wondering has the recipe also changed??

This is probably the first batch of Hargreaves that I have sampled coming out of the new brewery.

 

[bum]

I related a very similar experience here back in June. I am quite saddened to hear this issue hasn't been rectified yet as I was thinking it might be time to give it another shot - especially after trying their ESB last night which was pretty tasty. Although I did try their Stout recently and that did have a metallic quality to it too (but nothing like in the Pale).

They've been brewing in Lilydale since Sept 09 if that helps you work out if you think this is a new brewery issue.

 

[Eggs]

i bought a case of this last week and it had no problem. I felt that the hop flavour was a little grassy or green for my taste, but no metalic flavours.

 

[Mercs Own]

I still have three bottles from the six pack in the fridge as none of the ones I openned have been enjoyable enough to drink. I did however buy a single bottle from a different bottle shop that I bought the six pack from and it was quite fine and I drank the whole bottle.

So I guess I just got a bad batch or maybe a better way to put it - not such a good batch. The beer wasnt as Hoppy as I remember - I am talking about the good one now - so perhaps they have changed the recipe a little due to the knew brew house or cheaper hops or the price of eggs?

Shame - I loved the original recipe.

 

[seemax]

Tried a few of their beers month or so go, including the Pale Ale - found it very muted and boring.

We often critique beers on the forums but I wonder does anyone actually bother to contact the brewery, or better yet return the beers?

If it was food it would go straight back!

 

[bum]

Simon from Hargreaves Hill contacted me after I posted my initial complaint about this metallic issue so I guess sometimes you don't need to be proactive.

I did contact Bridge Road about a bad experience once and they responded very positively (and generously) to my feedback and were very interested in trying to track down the source of the issue (as was Simon from Hargreaves Hill - which is pretty much why I bothered to try their beers again, gotta respect an attitude like that).

 

[bluebetty]

Haven't had the pale ale in a while, but did try the ESB last night and it was brilliant. Really enjoyed it.

 

[pk.sax]

Had my 1 bottle of pale ale last night and it was quite nice. Not metallic or anything. Definitely wasn't very hoppy, very mild hoppiness. But then, thats just the way I like it too. Very easy drinking.