Tristan brought over some new beers for us to try. He has a habit of doing that. This time it was a new beer by Camden Brewery, Strawberry Hells Forever.
We all know by now that Camden do some awesome beers. Their Pale Ale was there right when craft beers really exploded in the UK. I was working at Natterjacks at the time, and I can still remember how it became the norm to find customers casting a judicious eye over the fridges, turning their nose up at the San Miguel they probably loved 3 months earlier!
We were all the same. The craft beer movement spread at an unbelievable rate. We put Punk on draught and thought we were way ahead of the curve, but O-Bar across the road already had Meantime on the front bar, and it wasn't long before a new style IPA was a prerequisite for any self respecting bar.
It's a few years and a million beers down the road now, but Camden is still at the forefront of the scene. Strawberry Hells is a testament to that. Casting a murky eye through the brown bottle you can spot that there is something slightly odd about this one. But it's not until you pour one out for one's homies that its uniqueness becomes clear.
An opaque, milky, shimmering liquid is what you're presented with. If your local tender of choice poured this drink from a hand pull, you might be tempted throw it back over the bar. But if managed to save a few drops, you'd taste a truly unique beer.
Strawberry Hells Forever, the giveaway is in the name. Every summer Camden take their signature Hells Lager and do a straight mix with a puree of ripe british strawberries. It's such a bold combination, and one of those time where the process can be tasted so clearly in the bottle.
I'm not a fan of fruit beers like Fruli in general, but this is something different. the strawberry flavor is so fresh and vibrant, and the beer doesn't end up overly sweet. the flavours seems to sit next to each other, with the fruit tang coming in later after an initial hop hit.
It's a marriage that you just wouldn't have guessed. There are so many craft beers out there now with subtle little differences, it's harder and harder to pick a particular drink out in a lineup. But this is a beer you would never forget. In my mind, Strawberry Hells will last forever!