HopHead
Dark Star Brewing Company Limited

HopHeadHopHead
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From:
Dark Star Brewing Company Limited
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Pale Ale
Ranked #7
ABV:
3.8%
Score:
87
Ranked #16,381
Avg:
3.88 | pDev: 11.08%
Reviews:
39
Ratings:
92
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 19, 2023
Added:
Nov 19, 2003
Wants:
  5
Gots:
  6
An extremely clean-drinking pale golden ale with a strong floral aroma and elderflower notes from the Cascade hops. This beer is full-bodied and full-flavoured yet gentle enough to make it a favourite session beer.

50 IBU
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Rated: 4 by bad_poetry from England

Dec 19, 2023
Photo of Sludgeman
Reviewed by Sludgeman from District of Columbia

3.53/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A very bitter English pale ale. But with no unique or interesting hop profile. Herbal bitterness. Pours a lovely clear straw to golden yellow. Good lacing.
Dec 07, 2023
 
Rated: 3.76 by Eman17 from Illinois

Aug 12, 2023
Photo of Gatch
Reviewed by Gatch from Massachusetts

4.28/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
From cask at The Albany in London, next to the Great Portland Street station. A proper hoppy English pale here, with floral and citrus aromas and flavors. Not too dry or dank, just fruity and smooth and easy drinking. Really shines at cask temperature. Would order again, great beer.
Aug 11, 2023
 
Rated: 3.85 by shelby415 from Oregon

Jun 26, 2023
 
Rated: 3.52 by Dethark from England

May 23, 2023
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.25/5  rDev -16.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Pint at the Old Joint Stock. Clear golden pour, small foamy white head, rings of lacing. Biscuity, malty aroma, grainy. Taste follows with malts and a bit of crispy hops, fading out to a dry finish.
Feb 16, 2023
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.6/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Cask at The Harp, London. Served a bit too warm. Pale golden colour, low white head. Moderate hoppy and slightly citrussy aroma. Distinctly hoppy flavour with a nice bitterness throughout.
Sep 29, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by heerboth from Pennsylvania

Mar 10, 2022
Photo of James94
Reviewed by James94 from England

4.31/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
L: Light lemon colour, good lacing
S: Peach, malt, vanilla, grapefruit, wheat, zestiness
T: Grapefruit, pineapple, peach, herbs
F: Crisp and balanced carbonation, somewhat dry finish

O: 4.25
Jan 22, 2022
 
Rated: 3.79 by Dave1999 from North Carolina

Nov 03, 2021
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.34/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)...
L- Mig-gold, pours clear with 5mm cap of white foam. ps@+5mins, holds ok as a now 2mm foam lid.
S- Quite bright+fresh and perhaps a light citrus note.
T- Closely follows the smell. I'm not sure if the citrus is clear, it's more a relatively prominent dry contemporary hop profile. Not much space for malts to get a look in here.
F- Certainly over on the dryer side.
O - Might work better on a hot summers day when craving refreshment than some malt+feel fulfillment on the palate.
Review1985/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the bottle lables to see what I missed! ==> Lable looks like a still from a computer game; makes sense for the target demographic. 3.8% and expensive for it.
500ml bottle BB: 01/06/2022 £2.50 Bought from a branch of Waitrose in London.
Jul 28, 2021
Photo of xander10
Reviewed by xander10 from England

3.83/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
I don't know why this has been put under the style of English Bitter, seeing as it is a pale ale, but oh well here we go.
This beer is an excellent session beer with amazing citrusy hop flavours. It is the best golden ale I have had and the low ABV is no issue, in fact it just lets you enjoy more of this fantastic session ale.
Nov 05, 2020
 
Rated: 2.57 by stephenlee93 from England

Jun 12, 2020
Photo of metter98
Reviewed by metter98 from New York

3.64/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Cask at Fuller's London Pub, Heathrow Terminal 2, London, England

A: The beer is crystal clear golden yellow in color and has no visible carbonation. It poured with a short layer of white lacing on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of floral hops are present in the nose along with notes of pale malts.
T: The taste has flavors of floral hops and notes of pale malts. There is a light to moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels nearly medium-bodied and somewhat dry on the palate with a low amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is nice and hoppy for an English ale.

Serving type: cask
Nov 01, 2019
 
Rated: 3.71 by jak from North Carolina

Oct 06, 2019
 
Rated: 3.53 by szmnnl99 from Michigan

Jul 05, 2019
Photo of Spike
Reviewed by Spike from England

3.85/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
500ml bottle. Clear, dark gold colour with several streams of bubbles rising to a thin head that hangs around. Sweet malt nose. This is a nicely balanced, pale, semi-sweet English golden ale with a heft of citrusy Cascade hops. Mouthfeel is slick and slightly oily. Bitterness is light. A fine example of an easy-drinking, low ABV, summer ale. Not complex, not remarkable, but highly enjoyable.
Jun 30, 2019
Photo of JamFuel
Reviewed by JamFuel from Sweden

4.18/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
On cask at Akkurat in Stockholm.

Pours a clear yellow with some fine, soapy head.

Smell is hoppy and crisp with notes of citrus and rye.

Taste is floral and hoppy, very clean and crisp, with notes of citrus, rye and a solid, yet balanced bitterness.

Mouthfeel is real ale, soft and smooth with little carbonation.

Overall, a great summer beer, super clean and refreshing.
Apr 27, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by dafla67 from Pennsylvania

Mar 28, 2019
HopHead from Dark Star Brewing Company Limited
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 92 ratings