Today’s review is on Northern Monk Heathen, a 7.2% hazy IPA which is almost like the younger and more rebellious brother to Northern Monk Faith. Brewed using only one type of hop, Heathen is an example of not overcomplicating it. I am pretty familiar with Northern Monk and I have tried a fair few of their brews and this one slipped through the cracks. So during the course of I will cover what I think about this beer as well as the history, the pour, the taste and aroma. Cheers
Yorkshire Born n Bred
Northern Monk is an independent craft brewery based in Leeds, United Kingdom. It was founded in 2013, by Russ Bisset and Brian Dickson whom have a love for beer and an aim to bring something to the UK craft beer scene. The origins are humble and Bisset received £5,000 from his Grandmother which helped finance his experiments in a cellar. Their first brews were contract brews at other breweries but eventually, they found a home at The Old Flax Store in Holbeck Leeds in 2014.
Since 2014, Northern Monk has become one of the fastest growing breweries known for creative beers and its iconic branding. It is famous for its Patrons Projects in which they team with artists for their brews and the Faith in Futures campaign which is their charity work.
Northern Monk Heathen is one of the breweries core beers which has origin story similar to the incredibly famous Faith. A single hop beer, Heathen was born out of experiments with Citra hops originally used on their 5% IPA Faith. For Heathen, they doubled the available hops to create a Hazy IPA with an ABV of 7.2%. Its name Heathen is a nod to rebellious nature of this beer and it quickly became a standout.
A juicy hazy pour
The pour of Heathen is that of an extremely juicy NEIPA style ale. It is a yellow to orange colour which is opaque in nature. The head that forms is incredibly foamy and leaves a great amount of lacing down the glass. The appearance is that of a mango juice and the mouthfeel is similarly smooth. The carbonation was moderate with a steady stream of bubbles rising to the top. Overall, a really appetising pour that invites you for a sip.
A fruit driven taste and aroma
Aroma
Upon pouring, it is immediately noticeable hop forward nature of this beer. It commences with flavours of tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple and is then followed by a citrus edge, think maybe grapefruit and orange. Furthermore, this is backed by an addition of floral and resinous hints. Overall, this is an aromatic and fundamentally what you expect from this nature of beer.
Taste
Moving onto taste now, Heathen basically echoes the aroma by presenting a hop forward and fruit forward taste. On the first sip, it was splash of tropical and stone fruit flavours such as mango, pineapple and peach. The addition of a citrus gives this beer a gentle bitterness. This was followed by a resinous edge which along with the malt sweetness balanced this beer out. The finish of this beer was dry, juicy and extremely smooth. Overall, this was an immensely hopped and smooth pour.
Time for my verdict
Northern Monk Heathen is one of the better beers you can buy from a supermarket in the UK. This beer does what you expect it to do. Provide a strong hop forward and juicy high ABV experience. Sometimes I feel keeping it simple in terms of hop usage when produce just as nice of a flavour as those fancy six different hops DIPAs. However, I still enjoy experimenting with new flavours. Northern Monk Heathen was a smooth and juicy pour which really exemplified how versatile and flavoursome the Citra hop is. So to conclude this review I rate this a solid 4 out of 5.
Where did I purchase this beer?
I didn’t purchase this beer, it was gifted by one of my best mates Alex. I really appreciated that.
If you enjoyed this review, you will a review of another UK Supermarket DIPA called Full Circle Mixtape. Thanks for reading this review.
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