North East Beer Review

A budget beer that I feel everyone can appreciate. Purchased from Home Bargains, Lovelane Brewery are often available for a dirt cheap price of around £1.79 per can. So if you keep your eyes peeled you can grab many different and interesting variants such as a Marzen, Aussie Pale, Nectaron hopped pale and many more. It is well worth checking out. So what did I think? To find out I will cover the history of this beer and brewery, the pour, the flavour profile and finally my verdict. Cheers

A mainstay in Liverpool’s craft beer revolution

LoveLane Brewery was founded in 2010 and is positioned as one of Liverpool’s modern craft beer icons. LoveLane originally was brewed under the railway arch on Love Lane, which inspired the name of this brewery. In 2016, the brewery moved into a derelict former rubber factory within the Baltic Triangle in Liverpool.

By 2017, LoveLane opened up a working brewery, taproom and bars, event space and kitchen. As part of keeping with Liverpool’s brewing heritage, the brewery also brews Higson’s Brewery which has roots all the way to 1780.

In 2024, Lovelane was bought and saved by White Real Estate which is associated with Tom Morris, the owner and founder of Home Bargains. This means no middlemen, no cuts taken from supermarkets and no distributor margins. It directly fits into Home Bargains model of large scale which often can mean a lower cost. This can involve keeping the ingredients cheap, sell a high volume and keeping overheads low. This is the home bargains model which due to its relationship with LoveLane, you can see why the beer is cheap. However, that doesn’t always mean bad beer though, most likely making craft beer more accessible to those more casual drinkers

LoveLane Krushed is one of the breweries limited edition releases in which the brewery regularly experiments with new world IPA releases similar to the Nectaron release. This typically designed to highlight one particular hop, in this case Krush which is known to give off a citrus and tropical flavour. It also contains Citra and Cascade hops as well as Best Ale, Wheat and Caramalts. This carries an ABV of 4.8% and a hop forward design which isn’t too bitter.

A slightly hazy pour

Krushed pours an orange to golden colour which has a slight hazy appearance to it. The carbonation is moderate at best and there is slight hint of bubbles travelling to the surface. The head was thick when I first poured it but it dissipated in seconds leading to the tiny amount on the photo. There was little to no lacing from this beer. Overall, an underwhelming pour in my opinion.

A fruit forward taste and aroma

Aroma

Krushed opened with a somewhat hop forward aroma, particularly that of tropical and citrus fruits such as mango and citrus zests such as orange and lemon. This was backed a slight sweetness from the malt bill. As the beer unlocked more flavour, a herbal and floral aroma was also observed underneath the hop bill. Overall, an IPA which has a juicy and modern feel.

Taste

On the palate, Krushed delivers tropical burst with flavours of mango and pineapple. This is followed by an addition of citrus fruits. There is a gentle sweetness from malt bill which is reminiscent of a sweet biscuit. There is a moderate bitterness which lingers and is followed by a stone fruit and herbal edge. The finish is relatively clean and dry but restrained. The mouthfeel of this beer was soft. Overall, an ok IPA which had some pleasant flavours but overall lacked any real depth.

Time for my verdict

Overall, I always think to myself when I purchase any beer from LoveLane that this cheap but remarkably drinkable. These aren’t the sort of beers that will blow you away but most are generally tasty and worth the small fee that Home Bargains charge. I feel it is a good way for those with a small budget and potential fleeting interest in Craft Beer to get involved. In terms of the beer this was a pretty average supermarket IPA which offered some sort of flavour but certainly didn’t blow your socks off. Would I Recommend? Yes to be fair, for the price its a cool way to experiment with different hop styles. I rate this 3 out of 5.

Where did I purchase this beer?

I bought this beer from Home Bargains for a bargain price of £1.79.

Thanks for reading my review. If you enjoyed my review you will love my review of Megadeth Rattlehead.