Canterbury Brewery - Galactic Belgian

And... I thought... It smelt hoppy... On the outside!

Is the only Star Wars reference you'll be getting out of me for the entirety of this review! Maybe. This pungent wonder was donated very kindly by my fellow reprobate "Toothless" Dave McLeod, thanks chap!

Canterbury are known for being a cultural hub in a county that's famed for being a garden, take from that what you will, but all I know is that the place is a Mecca for restaurants and business owners who want to do their own thing. Until recently I wasn't aware that Canterbury had a brewery but now I understand that they have 2: Wantsum brewery and Canterbury Brewery, who work out of The Foundry brew pub, which can be found just off the high street. It is quite a coincidence that this happened to fall into my lap because people have been telling me to go to The Foundry. "You'll love it" they say, "you're a beer guy, they have beer," they repeat, somewhat exasperating the point. I do intend to amass a cabal and descend upon the place for a hefty session but in the mean time I think I can settle for a Star Wars inspired beer that Dave informed me was "HOPPY AS F***!"

High praise indeed!

The first thing I notice is that they use a Maris-otter (standard, tried and true,) a Belgian Abbey, which is bold AND a Munich malt! As a home brewer I can vouch that I don't have the stones for a next-level pro move like that! I doubt many brew pubs would go out on a limb like that. I will explain. The site I get my grain from rates both the Abbey and the Munich as grains to be added to a recipe by brave micro brewers and, on top of that, they've used bold Australian hops.

I've only read the label and I'm already a bit in love with this beer. The pour is satisfying enough and produces a cloudy brown/orange brew with an adorably uneven head and steady carbonation. I can smell the hops and I can smell the malt and I never want this smell to leave my nose. The smell has all the richness of a Belgian Abbey style beer with a big double IPA style kick of hops. I just hope it tastes as good as it smells.

WHOA!

Well, bugger me! That is hoppy as F***! Sweet to start but then INTENSELY bitter! I don't think I'm doing this enough justice; it's almost like eating raw hops, not in a bad way, because it's delivered by this smooth and rich double IPA style body. It doesn't quite taste Belgian to me but it sure does taste like someone has nailed my tongue to a phone book and taken a blast sander to it. Wow! It stops just short of being the beer embodiment of utter violence, it settles for a sentence of 'Hate Crime' before things get out of hand and it starts getting charged with 'War Crimes'.

I haven't actually mentioned, yet, that this is a 6.5% so it's no slouch and even though it is quite obscenely intense, you do eventually become one with the bitterness and you slowly slip into a sort of hop induced daze... Which is most pleasant, somewhat comparable to eating a raw scotch bonnet, except without all the inherent bowel problems.

Definitely not for the weak willed but could be good for that kind of person who likes to see if he can eat the hottest curry in the world. Well don't be fooled if someone gives you a bottle of this...

Food Suggestion: Braised Ewok or a nice thick Bantha steak if you're feeling flush with credits.

Drink this if you like: Being rebel scum.