Pete Brown had tried American hops for the first time at the 2004 Oregon Brewers Festival, and was telling everyone who would listen about the new flavors he’d tasted. Craft breweries of Thornbridge’s vintage gingerly experimented in the American mode—big, boozy hop bombs.

The Lord Marples beer was born - a 4% traditional bitter - named after one of the previous occupants of Thornbridge Hall.This Jacobean country house is located just outside of Bakewell, and dates back to the 12th Century. He insisted on a small recipe change, albeit only for kegs and bottles, from a traditional Yorkshire yeast strain to an American one. The cask ale CAMRA reveres is made of characterful local malts, English hops, expressive yeast, and is brewed to a modest strength so that when served on cask it makes for an incredible session beer.

The head is quite volatile, even chilled I had to take my time pouring although things settle down once the beer is fully in the glass. In the ten previous installments of this series, none of the beers in question has even been younger than forty years, and certainly none were developed in the 21st century. He only lasted a year at Thornbridge before heading home to found BrewDog, where he promptly made an extremely Jaipur-esque beer you may have heard of: Punk IPA. Pale gold with a firm white head, it had all the contained vibrancy you want in a great pint of cask ale.Chemicals: Whilst the kit is complete you will need a good cleaner/steriliser like the Wineworks one. A laid back metallic bitterness takes over by stealth after a floral interlude and then gradually fades out. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. When he arrived, the team had just done a tour for a group of CAMRA members, and all the beers were lined up to taste.

Well, as with many of their beers, the naming comes from a more sentimental side of the Thornbridge brewers. We balance these with a great English malt base of Low Colour Maris Otter from Norfolk that helps keep the beer light and drinkable with enough sweetness to keep it all in harmony.One becomes aware that, yes, there is a bit of malt down there underneath, with the sweetness of scone.