Hobgoblin

Seeking my regular Friday evening Thai food fix, I headed around to my local "The Old Parr's Head" in desperate need of some Pad Thai. The usual Ale suspect here is Pride, and its usually not kept well either. This doesn't worry me much as they have an excellent continental lager selection, as well as Guinness, Leffe and Hoegaarden to round out the ales. The first thing I noticed as I walked through the door was my Irish mate behind the bar, grinning from ear to ear. He had been waiting three days for me to come in so he could show me his latest addition to the bar - Hobgolblin (5.2% abv) from the Wychwood Brewery. He was even excited to show me the branded pint glasses! The Hobgoblin was in excellent condition as was the London Pride, and I suspect that they have started keeping the beer under CO2 (a big CAMRA no no, but really a sensible move) via a cask aspirator.

Hobgoblin is described as a Ruby beer, although it broadly falls into the style of Extra Special Bitter or ESB. It is similar to Fuller's ESB or Neame's Bishop's Finger in style and went down a treat. I think its reassuring that the quality of this beer has not gone downhill since Wychwood was acquired ultimately by Marston's last year. http://www.hobgoblinbeer.com/