Category Archives: Canned Beer

Can be classed as real ale if it includes live yeast.

West Berkshire Brewery – Detour Pale Ale

Pale Ale 4.5%

Take a detour with this super easy drinking pale. Crammed full of tropical fruit and citrus flavours with a crisp, balanced bitterness.

The Regulars had the opportunity to sample this n bottles and cans. On balance, the bottled version was marginally preferred as it seemed to hold the head longer. Further scientific analysis is required to determine whether this was related to temperature effects.

Can:  Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (3.3 / 5)

Bottle: Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (3.5 / 5)

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Siren Craft & Elusive Collaboration – Zombies Ate My Neighbours

Black IPA 6.2%

A special collaboration between neighbours Siren Craft Brew and Elusive Brewing. As Andy from Elusive has been campaigning so successfully for #BIPACOMEBACK, it was an easy decision to collaborate on a Black IPA. A carefully considered selection of malts balances perfectly with complementary hops, leaving this beer buzzing in vibrant orange, pine and berry aromas.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling: (4 / 5)

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Watneys – Party Seven

The Party Seven was famous the world over and was at the heart of millions of parties in the ’60s and ’70s. Originally the Party Four, Watneys added the Party Seven to the range and started a revolution of party drinking and drinking at home.

Now it’s back – with a burst of tangerine and orange blossom in the aroma. This is repeated in the flavour with orange, grapefruit, and pine overlaying a base of malt biscuits. Smooth on the palate, the beer has a firm bitterness upfront which lingers on the finish.

… and no hammer and nails required.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling) (3 / 5)

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ON-TOUR: Double Barrelled Brewery

A planned visit to Double Barrelled Brewery didn’t go ahead due to the second lockdown. However, The Regulars did join with our friends from the Muddled Memories brewing cooperative for a virtual tasting. We tried

Parka – 4.5% ABV and Harpers Arms old favourite,

Physiological Needs – 5.4% ABV Pale Ale. Citra, Comet and Centennial hops.

Keith on Banjo – 6.5% ABV IPA. Dry hopped with Vic Secret and BRU-1,

Judith on Tambourine – 7.2% ABV IPA.  Big tropical nose from the Galaxy, Citra and Mosaic hops.

How often do they update the internet? – 7.3% ABV. West Coast IPA. A single Hop Showcase of Columbus

The common consensus was that it was a great selection of beers with Judith coming out on top and perhaps Physiological Needs could do with some refining.

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Phantom Brewing – Ball Pit

Uber juicy and nicely hoppy an example of how a good NEIPA should be. Full of character with great aromas of peach, and a great finish.

HOPS: Idaho 7, Citra, Cryo Ekuanot

An awesome beer from this new Reading brewery.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (5 / 5)

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Brew Dog – Instamatic


White India Pale Ale

Instamatic is a Spring loaded, zesty IPA. As fresh as a Bel-Air morning. Tropical fruit aromas are rapidly pursued by pineapple, mango and lemon with floral undertones on the palate. Built from the ground up on a solid caramel malt superstructure. Wheat allows for a super smooth delivery. And a pronounced bitterness lingers to the end. Refreshing, fresh and fruity.

Instamatic – Rejuvinate your senses.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (3.8 / 5)

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Hyde & Wilde – American Style IPA

Hyde and Wilde is “Sainsbury’s own craft brewery” but its actually brewed by Marston’s exclusively for Sainsbury’s.

This one is the American Style IPA with a blend of barley and wheat, as well as Citra and Summit hops. According to Sainsburys …

Yee-Haw! Let’s thank the Yanks for their bold, citrusy hops! With a blast of grapefruit and a hit of gooseberry, this beer rocks! 

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (3.3 / 5)

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Devil’s Backbone America IPA by Marstons

American IPA is the first Devil’s Backbone beer to be sold outside of the United States. The beer is an original Devil’s Backbone recipe showcasing American hops and brewed especially for the English palate. It’s a mix of English (East Kent Goldings and Admiral) and American hops added late in the process with a single-infusion mash of Pale Ale malt.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (3 / 5)

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Lagunitas – 12th of Never

“As the River Styx froze and the final pig took flight, when the last winged monkey departed the darkly fragrant netherlands, as wishes became horses and all the beggars rode… Under a newly-blued moon at dawn on the very 12th of Never: the second-to-last craft brewery in America pressed the green ‘start’ button on their canning line. We wanted to be the Last Small Brewer in the U.S. to can their beer and maybe, finally, by now, we are…The ‘12th of Never Ale’ is everything we’ve learned about making hop-forward beer expressed in a moderate voice. Pale, cold, slightly alcoholic, and bitter. It’s all we know.”

What more is there to say!

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (4.3 / 5)

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UPDATE: Meantime Brewery – London Pale Ale

Meantime London Pale Ale combines lots of American Cascade and Centennial hops to give it a complex citrus aroma and buckets full of local Kentish Goldings to provide the bitterness that makes the style so refreshing. Together they conspire to assail the nose with a complex, heady mix of  spearmint, grass and ‘hop sack’ aromas, fruity citrus flavours and a bitter finish that makes pale ale drinking a truly rewarding experience

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (3.5 / 5)

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Stone Brewing – Stone IPA

One of the most well-respected and best-selling IPAs in the America, this golden beauty explodes with tropical, citrusy, piney hop flavors and aromas, all perfectly balanced by a subtle malt character. This crisp, extra hoppy brew is hugely refreshing on a hot day, but will always deliver no matter when you choose to drink it.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling):  (3.8 / 5)

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Oskar Blues – Dales Pale Ale


This voluminously Hopped Mtha delivers a hoppy nose and assertive-but-balanced flavors of pale malts and citrusy floral hops from start to finish.

Oskar Blues launched its canning ops in 2002, brewing and hand-canning Dale’s Pale Ale in the Lyons, Colorado, brewpub. America’s first-craft-canned mountain Pale is a hearty, critically acclaimed trailblazer that changed the way craft beer fiends perceive portable beer

American Strong Pale Ale 6.5%

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling):  (4.5 / 5)

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London Beer Factory – Paxton IPA

PPA2Paxton IPA is dry hopped with charismatic Australian hops known for their distinctive orange bouquet and wild herbal undertones. Full of flavour and attitude this beer does not apologise for what it is: a hard hitting, fully hopped IPA.

Featuring Vic Secret Hops – Check out the comments for the LandL0rd’s favourite Vic Secret pics.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (4.3 / 5)

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BrewDog – Punk IPA

Punk IPA

Our scene-stealing flagship is an India Pale Ale that has become a byword for craft beer rebellion; synonymous with the insurgency against mass-produced, lowest common denominator beer. Punk IPA charges the barricades to fly its colours from the ramparts – full-on, full-flavour; at full-throttle.

Layered with new world hops to create an explosion of tropical fruit and an all-out riot of grapefruit, pineapple and lychee before a spiky bitter finish, this is transatlantic fusion running at the fences of lost empires.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (4.8 / 5)

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Honorary Mention: Wild Weather Ales – Storm in a Teacup

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Our friends at Wild Weather Ales have finally got their canning operation up and running with excellent results.  The cans are all works of art in themselves, and they have even improved some of their most popular beers in preparation for the canning run.

One new one that they brought to my attention was this cracker of a beer, Storm In A Teacup, an Earl Grey IPA.  At 6% avb the trendy craft beer sized can still packs a punch.

The whole brew went into the cans but hopefully we will get a draft sample to try so that we can rate it 🙂

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Beavertown – Neck Oil Session IPA

Beavertown-Neck OilBeavertown’s Session IPA Neck Oil pack a huge amount of flavour into a light, refreshing beer. It is crammed full of hops that are added a different times during the brew to bring out their individual flavours while reducing the bitterness. It starts out very dry to taste that is then quickly overtaken by the floral fruity notes of the hops before a dry, hoppy full-flavoured finish that makes a mockery of its low abv.

Harper Arms Rating (5=Tribute, 1=Carling): (4.5 / 5)

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