Goes excellently with pizza (in this case an nduja/pepperoni and aubergine/parmesan split, if you were wondering).

I mean, really well.

I had intended to start talking about Burnt Mill (founded a few years ago in rural Suffolk, early hype status has translated into consistently excellent beer, with a confident touch on the hazy numbers) for context, maybe throw in an anecdote for interest and then reel you in with the tasting notes, but then I cracked open the can to go with a takeout pizza on a too-hot Sunday evening and was transported.

Given how fast it's selling, go grab one pronto, and then have it with slice of something good in the summer gloaming, just as temperatures are approaching bearable.

Oh, you actually want to know what it tastes of before sourcing some? Hmm, well, ok...
Dank notes, lemon/pineapple aromas.
Weed, citrus, hints of gooseberry and elderflower,  on a soft, but not heavy, body where the soft malt merges delightfully with melon and grape. A well-judged light bitterness comes in at the end, emerging from that earlier dankness. Repeat sips a necessity.

Balances well at the colder end of the normal drinking temperature range, so don't be abashed about having it straight from a cold fridge. As you might have guessed, pairs well with hearty food, like, I don't know, pizza?

Pastore are an outfit hailing from the famously hilly landscape of Cambridgeshire, second only to Flanders' vertiginous horizons. They're new to me, and focus on mixed-fermentation and sour beers, with some interesting winemaker collaborations and a recent brew with the similarly minded, and generally excellent, Little Earth Project.

Whilst fruited sours are delightful when done well, they also tend to be pretty straightforward - depending on the strength and what's added, you usually have an idea of what you'll get. Pastore have neatly upended such presumptions by switching out a standard ale yeast for the current brewing hotness, a kveik strain. Kveik is a loose family of yeasts unified mainly by the fact they've been harvested from Norwegian farmers' traditional brewing cultures. They've all sorts of unexpected properties, but as certain strains add lovely soft and tropical fruit notes, you see them being used in hazy IPAs (look up Lars Marius Garshol's blog - https://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/ - and accompanying book for a better explanation).

So, at the very least, this adds an element of surprise to my drink, but how is it? Well, it pours a soft, almost glowing, opaque purple-pink, with a white fluffy head that succumbs quickly.
The nose is both recognisably a fruited kettle sour, with fresh, lush blackcurrants and a tart edge, but there's a whole other element in there - almost beetroot sherbet - and hints of blueberry and a coppery note.

To drink, it feels remarkably full-bodied for its strength (4.3%) and acidity, with a decent carbonation keeping it spritzy. The fruit is immediately apparent, with a big hit of freshly picked blackcurrants rather than Ribena, but other elements come through - very ripe apricot, slightly underripe peach, watermelon, gooseberry and, at the finish, that beetroot hint comes through again as an earthy note. The lactobacillus culture gives you a lovely coolness, gooseberry fool on a hot day, and the finish is dry with a hint of raspberry pips.

I'm worried that my description might make it all sound a bit disco, but this is a really delightful spin on something that was getting a bit too familiar. Kveik has occasionally just been used as a gimmick or for the novelty, but here it adds a marvelous extra dimension.

Now, I'm just jealous that I've not been able to try out the Passionfruit and guava version the Folkestone branch had on tap...

Those of you who have been into The Beer Shop on a few occasions will have most certainly have met our long standing beer pourer, Richard Davie. He joined us in 2015, not long after we opened, so it's ridiculous to think that it's taken nearly six years for both parties to realise that his beer knowledge, excellent palate and writing skills would be put to pretty good use in a beer blog!

Every few weeks Richard will delve into a beer of his choice from our range and then share his thoughts right here on this blog.

So, whilst most of the posts here will be written by Richard, every now and again myself or Lee might have something to say so we'll try to make that clear. Although, to be fair, I think our writing style will give it away... 

Anyway, we are delighted to introduce Richard, and look forward to sharing his words about beer with you.

Cheers!
Lauren & Lee