McMullens’ Original IPA

ABV 4.8%

Quite surprised I actually got to try this given the difficulty I have had in the past finding McMullen’s specials however my local came up trumps. They have now had this for the last three weeks giving myself and other regulars more than enough chance to have a good tasting of this beer.

I am glad they have had this on pump; it is a nicely balanced beer. The pint itself pours well with a foamy head which fades to an attractive lacing around the top about half way though and has a clean hoppy scent which is rather appealing. It reminds me a lot of this brewery’s Hertford Castle bottled beer but without the alcohol kick which that one has.

Like many of McMullen’s beers it is a hoppy light tasting style of beer yet it manages to hold it’s own against strong flavours which is no mean trick. It finishes with an extremely clean end note which means it works well with spicy flavours such as chilli crisps although sadly I can’t try this with a curry until I order some bottles of this online but I hope to do this soon and unlike the Meantime IPA which I found fought with food flavours I hope this one will compliment instead.

One annoying point (as I find a fair bit with breweries) is that McMullen’s say that it is “One of our Head Brewer’s favourites” yet it is only available in the pub for such a short time. Why do breweries do this? If it is a favourite why not make it more available and allow it to become one of your customer’s favourites!