DEYA Tasting Fringe Event

One of the fringe events that I attended whilst in Leeds for the Hop City festival was a tasting evening with DEYA Brewery at The Turks Head. Ironically Leeds is a long way to travel for a tasting evening with a brewery that is fairly local to me but it was a great way to get ready for the festival. Having only had one of DEYA's beers, Steady Rolling Man, I was interested to see what else they brewed. 

The tasting session was run by DEYA's founder and brewer Theo. Don't be fooled by his youth as he is very knowledgable about beer and very passionate about what he produces. He explained to us that he wanted to create hoppy beers, particularly IPAs, that don't have an overbearing flavour. Something that I can relate too as I find very hoppy beers can sometimes end up tasting like a bar of of soap! Steady Rolling Man is Theo's flagship beer, of which he is very proud of and one I've blogged about before. You can see why it's so good when you taste it and so the first beer of our tasting went down a treat!

Next up was the Sunset Dreaming 6% Pale. A little hazier in appearance to Steady Rolling but just as easy to drink. I really enjoyed it's well balanced citrus fruit flavours from the hops to create something that is still quite session-able. Can easily imagine drinking this on a warm sunny day!

Then in quick succession came Into The Haze 6.6% and The Very Hoppy Caterpillar 7.1%. Both these IPAs gave a hoppier punch to the palette with the softer tropical fruit notes bringing up the rear. I found that Into The Haze was so juicy it could have been like a fruit juice drink. The Very Hoppy Caterpillar had a bit more mouthfeel which I'd expect from something stronger and like the others was so drinkable!

We finished on something a little different for the brewery, an oatmeal porter called Hokum Stomp 5.5%. By Theo's own admission, DEYA brew a family of beers with similar characteristics so this one was brewed to stand out amongst the others. Slightly thinner mouthfeel to what expected after reading the tasting notes but the charred roasted coffee flavours were definitely there. Oaty and malty, this beer reminded me of sitting in a cafe at breakfast. This porter definitely brings something different to the DEYA portfolio.

This was such a good night and a great experience to be able to meet the brewer of these amazing beers. I really felt that these beers all bear similarities of each other which maintain strong branding, except the oatmeal porter as this was designed to be different. I also feel that they have some subtle differences that make them great to drink on their own. For my personal taste I really enjoy the styles of these beers and it's great to find a brewery that wants to do good flavourful IPAs without the overbearing soapy taste. I look forward to seeing what else DEYA has to produce!

Hop City Leeds 2017

Opening night on Northern Monk's first beer festival, Hop City Leeds, and anticipation was hot throughout Leeds and neighbouring towns. Held at their brewery, the festival last night was sold out with the queue lining the streets. Spread out over three floors of an old Flax storage building, the festival brought together some big named breweries as well as some lesser known ones who all served up some hoppy beers from their collections. Northern Monk's Brewery itself was decorated with tons of hops so the tasting experience was heightened.

My first stop was to try a beer that Northern Monk had released for the festival, Northern Tropics Pineapple & Grapefruit IPA. This beer was sweet and citrusy with big emphasis on the grapefruit flavour. A great palette cleanser for what was about to come. Down on ground floor, amongst the brewing kit, there was a lot of hype as people queued for beers from The Alchemist. Brought in from America, these beers were limited to one can per person so were highly sought after at the festival. I managed to get hold of Focal Banger and Heady Topper and these did pack a hoppy punch.

I noticed on the beer list that Magic Rock had brought their experimental brew Psychokinesis and I had to give it a try. Having popped along to Huddersfield two days before to Magic Rock's Tap House I could see that this was fermenting in their brewery. I knew it was going to be fresh and it was highly drinkable. I'd never had a beer from Verdant so I decided to give their Putty a try. This beer was so juicy I could have happy drank this for the rest of the night.

The food court at Hop City had a really great selection of street foods. Burgers, Chinese style and Indian foods that definitely helped sort out the munchies halfway through the night. I had the Chinese style salt 'n pepper ribs and chips which were just what I needed after having all these hoppy beers!

To round off the night another beer from The Alchemist, this time the imperial stout Luscious. This was a great beer to finish on as it helped slow things down and give me time to appreciate the flavours of the coffee and bitter chocolate.

Looking around and the party was still in full swing as I left last night. I was really impressed with how well run Hop City was considering it's a new festival. I think Northern Monk have made best of the space they have and I feel it's an interesting setting for this type of event. I hope the rest of the sessions are just as successful this weekend!