Do The Wolf Hop

Lupulus: while this may sound like the name of a professor at Hogwarts it's actually a beer. The Latin name for the hop plant is Humulus Lupulus which translates as 'small humble wolf'. The region of the Ardennes where the brewery is based used to be home to wolf packs (so they say). Just in case you didn't get it, they've got a huge picture of a wolf on the front surrounded by hop flowers. So, for cleverclogs only.

It comes in a 750ml bottle and for some reason that gets me excited. If a brewer is confident enough to think that people will buy their beer in large quantities then I'm on board. However, it's in  a controversial green bottle; apparently this leaves it susceptible to be 'light struck', i.e. stinky. The jury's out as to whether it's both green and brown which are ok, or just brown. I've heard both, but never experienced skunky, light-struck beer myself, so we'll have to trust the experts, who disagree...

Enough rambling, the beer has now entered the glass. It's an alluring number, ghostly pale with a frothy head that fades fairly quickly but leaves adequate 'lacing' down the glass (I don't know why we dont just call it 'foamy scum'. What's not appealing about that?). The aroma is fairly gentle; I was expecting a little more. It's slightly herbaceous in its hop element and there's a light grain scent. In fairness, for a such a pale beer it has plenty on offer.

Taste-wise, there's a lovely honey flavour in the initial sip and the after-taste is very clean. The 8.5% alcohol comes through in a rich wave, but isn't overpowering. It's pleasingly flavoursome. The bitterness and sweetness are well-balanced throughout, from the first sip to the final smack of the mouth. 

Whilst it isn't a huge beer it's very classy and slowly builds into a really great beer. Personally, I find taste-filled pale and blonde beers are lower in supply than their darker cousins but That's Just Me. The best drinks are those that grow on you through the glass and this is one of them. It's definitely a beer to buy again, to share with a good friend or two, or just to get nicely drunk on your lonesome...

Lupulus - 9

http://www.lupulus.be/en/beer-lupulus-blond.html