Hop City 2023 Box
Somehow, I’ve never been to Hop City - Northern Monk’s annual beer festival dedicated to the best plant in the world. 35+ breweries come together from all over the world to pour their freshest and juiciest wares at Northern Monk’s brewery at the Old Flax Store in Leeds.
I have, however, drank most of the Hop City beers brewed in celebration of the event over the years and they are always excellent. Verdant’s highly regarded Putty was originally brewed for Hop City with the intention to brew something that would rival the beers being brought over from all the big US hop slingers. It was so well received it lives on annually - every January they release it and the hype machine goes into overdrive (I love it so don’t really care).
In keeping with tradition, I’m not attending Hop City 2023. It’s a festival I should have been to by now but it always seems to fall at a time when I’m busy. Instead, I’ve done the next best thing and bought the 4-pack of beers put together to celebrate from afar. Review-me-do!
The very vibrant yellow box arrived with four beers and a Hop City 2023 edition glass. The glass is a slightly different shape from a usual ‘harmony’ style - it’s thinner and almost like a mini vase which I’m very much for. All of the cans follow the black, yellow and white aesthetic and look great together.
And the liquid itself? Four UK breweries have teamed up with four US breweries to create four different heavily hopped beers. They are:
Northern Monk x Dogfish Head - West Coast DIPA 8.9%
DEYA x Vitamin Sea - NEIPA 6.1%
Overtone x Other Half - DIPA 8%
Mash Gang x Tripping Animals - Alcohol Free IPA 0.5%
With the exception of Other Half, I’ve only had a few beers from the other three US breweries despite their big reputations so I’m excited to get into these. So…
Let’s get into it!
Northern Monk x Dogfish Head // One Up, One Down - West Coast DIPA 8.9%
What they say: To mark Hop City 2023, we’ve collaborated with US brewing legends Dogfish Head on One up One Down, an 8.9% West Coast DIPA. We used some of Dogfish’s favourite hops to really pack a juicy hop hit. One Up One Down is made with YCH301 frozen fresh hop Simcoe and Citra, Simcoe and Chinook T90 and Californian White Sage. This is truly Hop City.
Expectations: Phwoooaarrr, this sounds filthy. Dogfish Head are proper oldheads in the beer world and I’ve only had a couple of their beers so I’m hoping this is a proper old school West Coaster full of piney goodness. Also, I’m not sure I’ve had Californian White Sage hops before - it sounds more like a cannabis strain. Here’s hoping it’s just as dank!
Reality: This is lovely. Lots of orange and bitterness, it’s almost like someone has melted down some marmalade. I expected a bit more pine but I think the orange detracts from that a little - not that I really mind as it’s delicious anyway. I didn’t expect it to be as dark as it is because I was expecting all of the beers being proper hazy (see all the ones below) so was a bit surprised at first. Not that it matters. Great beer.
DEYA x Vitamin Sea // High Water Everywhere - NEIPA 6.1%
What they say: We pushed the boat out for this juicy IPA melding our IPA brewing techniques with our esteemed collaborators, Vitamin Sea. Utilising YCH 301 Simcoe, Citra and Mosaic and CRYO versions of the aforementioned, Many many layers of choice hop goodness. Crystallised pineapple and mango lolly morphs into frosted pine needles dusted with sugar. Sweet ripe raspberry and lemon come in at the finish, offset with a puff of deep green dank. This heady, tropical, citrus delight may well take you into the future!!
Expectations: “Crystallised pineapple and mango lolly morphs into frosted pine needles dusted with sugar” made me do proper Vic Reeves trouser leg rubbing it sounded so sexy. With the sun beginning to show its face as Spring arrives, it’s the perfect time to crack this and I cannot wait. Weirdly, the only Vitamin Sea beer I’ve had was at a CAMRA beer festival.
Reality: CAMRA this ain’t. This is lovely and pillowy soft. Despite it being the biggest can, it’s probably the one I drank the quickest as it’s just so moreish I chugged it with abandon. I’m not sure I’m getting the pine notes but who cares when it’s a full on assault of pineapple and mango. Delightful.
Overtone x Other Half // Lost in the Thick of It - DIPA 8%
What they say: We teamed up with the masters from across the ocean, Other Half, to brew an extremely special DIPA for Northern Monk to celebrate Hop City 2023, also brewed in collaboration with Yakima Chief showcasing YCH 301 Trial Citra Cryo hops. This experimental product takes Frozen fresh Hops then uses Cryo Hops technology to preserve maximum flavour and aroma. With a few extra hop additions, this beer truly is Hop City.
Expectations: Fresh hops. Maximum flavour. Maximum aroma. Experimentation. All things I love… when it comes to beer. Other Half are one of my favourite US breweries and I’ve liked everything I’ve tried from Overtone so I’m going to love this, I think.
Reality: The aroma smelt so strongly of fruit salad chew bars that it made me feel like a little boy again, for a moment. Thankfully it has some proper grown-up bitterness on the finish to remind you this is definitely not confectionary. It’s just brilliant and everything that a DIPA should be - thick, juicy and daaaank. I should really drink more Overtone beers.
Mash Gang x Tripping Animals // Stank Drank - Alcohol Free IPA 0.5%
What they say: Well, Hop City, should be called DIPA City, and despite our target of 0.5% abv I wanted to make an outrageous thick hazy fluffy pale ale that should fit right in. Tripping Animals have a huge reputation here for big rippin’ DIPAs and I don’t wanna let them down. So it’s been every trick in the book to get here.
For the dry hop, we utilised Frozen Fresh YCH 301 Cryo Hops. A part of the Yakima Chief Hops Elite Product Trial program. Citra, but not as you know it. Paired up with one of my favourite hops HBC630 as well as, yet more trial runs HBC368 & HBC1019 – these highly experimental new test strains are very high in tropical notes, unusually caramelised banana.
Expectations: Mash Gang are absolute wizards when it comes to alcohol free beer. I’ve had several of their beers ranging from lager to West Coast IPA to pastry stout and have been surprised each time by how I’d be hard pushed to tell the difference between them and a ‘full fat’ beer. I am looking forward to what they can do with these fancy hops. I can’t say anything about Tripping Animals as I’ve never had any of their beers!
Reality: It smells bloody beautiful - lots of fruit. I mean, you can tell it’s an AF beer but this style is probably one of the hardest to emulate because of how thick and punchy it can get. The thinness gives it away here and it is lacking a bit of bite on the finish. However, you have to remember it’s 0.5% and when you realise that, it’s actually great - it’s just hard not to compare it to the other beers here. I think I’m trying to say… it’s good!
Summary
There we go then. A very enjoyable box this with not a single dud in the pack. I’m not sure I can pick a standout as I think they were all about on par with each other. The WC DIPA was the last one I had so recency bias is making me want to say that was my favourite but I do remember necking the DEYA x Vitamin Sea beer so maybe it’s that? Who cares - if you see any of these in your local bottleshop or even on draft, give them a whirl - I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you are a fan of the haze.
