“Originally brewed for last year’s Hobbit premiere (Golden Perch reputedly serves the best beer in the Eastfarthing), Golden Perch is an aromatic golden ale featuring ingredients from all across the world. German and British malts form the backbone of the beer, a little bit like the history of our brewing industry, but there is a strong new world influence from the clean American ale yeast and the pungent Nelson Sauvin hops. Golden Perch is a beer with enough flavour to satisfy the most ardent beer geek and remain subtle enough to not scare the everyday drinker”.
We don’t mean to offend any Hobbit fans out there but we never saw, or were compelled to see this movie! So there won’t be any witty quips or quotes from the film in this review. Our apologies. Served in a shaker glass. The completely transparent golden appearance looks nice and vibrant with a decent one and a half finger crown. Good head retention, slowly peeling off and settling to a fine covering. Some spotted lacing is left clinging to the glass. Nice and punchy on the nose, the sole use of Nelson Sauvin hops really lifts firm wafts of tropical fruits like mango, peach and passion fruit out of the glass. A definite lemony citric bitterness is detected as is the hallmark Nelson Sauvin scent of white grapes and vines. A clean, biscuity malt backbone ties it all together. Quite nice and vibrant for a golden ale. The mouth feel is light on with a silky smooth texture. Very mild bitterness (25 IBU). Body and Co2 is a little thin and slippery but that’s somewhat expected with these light golden ales. Most of the tropical fruity sweetness continues on to the palate, but with a more pronounced stone fruit character. Fruits like apricot and peach come forward along with a very soft hop bitterness on entry. The mid slightly drops out as a crisp, vinous finish rounds it all off. Good length for an ale of light strength (4.4% ABV) keeping the tongue dry between sips. To say it’s timid would be a bit harsh. It’s very delicate and really approachable, it’s that kind of beer that we could smash down on a hot day with a piece of grilled snapper or squid. It won’t make us shout from the roof tops but it’s a decent enough beer to enjoy. Not bad.