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to the release of Cone Zone, the brewery’s first ever green hopped beer. It’s been a long time coming: back on 27th September my friends Matt and Mike helped me harvest 6kg of fresh Cascade hops from a Queens Park allotment plot. Gary, the owner of the plot, has been growing bines of Cascade in the open Glaswegian air for over four years now. (Can you believe it!?) The aroma and flavour from the green hops was impressive to say the least: the beer could have been called St. Clements because the cones were full on oranges and lemons. The lupulin was positively luminous and instilled a great sense of joy. “I still can’t quite believe these hops were grown here in this great city. It’s magical, which brings me on to the name of the beer: Mark Faulkner, local artist, has produced a comic strip to take you into the cone zone: a marvellous local land of beer and hops, created and enjoyed. The artwork and story celebrates the discovery of the hops as well as Glasgow and friendship. Also, credit where credit’s due: Mike Gormely, one of my pals who helped me pick the cones, came up with the name. We have this in-joke at our part time work where come 7pm we officially enter the ‘Cone Zone’ and permit ourselves to go and buy a round of chip cones from the neighbouring chippy. (Philadelphia— best chips in town. Just saying.) “The beer is a Goliath of a Double IPA (8.1%) with more hoppy help from Admiral, Eclipse, Azacca and Enigma in the dry hop. All varieties were chosen for their orange-citrus qualities and piney resonance. Enigma was a bit of a… well an enigma… but its vinous nature adds an extra and zippier dimension to the beer’s fruitiness. “Despite the name, Cone Zone, isn’t all about the hops. Plumage Archer, Maris Otter and Munich malt make up the fermentables for a well round and caramel-sweet base. The healthy dose of Munich also brings about the light toffee complexion. “It really is deep golden orange in colour, almost amber and has this medium carbonation, making for a traditional double IPA drinking experience. No opaqueness or hop soups here… not that there’s anything wrong with that! It’s just nice to offer something different.

“Dank oranges, creamy sweet mandarin dreams and a trad malty bitterness all come together in Cone Zone. The beer is a punnet of easy-boozy-peelers dipped in candy. The nose and some of the taste really has that confectionery thing going on: like you’ve just walked into the sweetshop from your childhood and gone straight for the hard boiled fruity jars. It’s dry with a low finishing gravity and there’s that rasping-peppery bitterness from the pilgrim hop too, which is helpful with such a boozy brew: it entices you back for another sip. And in that other sip you get more subtle notes of lemons, pineapple, mango, grapefruit, peaches and dried apricots for days. But that’s just me!”

8.1%

330ml bottle

Contains barley, wheat, oats. Vegan?: Yes. Less