North East Beer Review

Beyond Belief Brewing Co is a brewery I have tried before with their Pasta IPA called Zenith which I thought was very tasty. Green Gold Brewing is a Slovenian Brewer which I have been keeping an eye on for a few months on Instagram. Recently, I tried Green Gold Sunset which was a West Coast IPA and it was tremendous and directly inspired me to try the beer above. The subject of today’s review is Beyond Belief Brewing Co x Green Gold Brewing Space Hops which is a ‘Fresh Hop Pale Ale’. So what did I think of this beer? During the course of this review I will cover the history of both of these great breweries and the history of this beer, the pour, the flavour profile and finally my verdict.

A collaboration between the UK and Slovenia

Beyond Belief Brewing Co (BBB) was founded by Freddie Ugo who is the great-grandson of Luigi Ugo whose family ran a London based pasta deli in the 1920’s. Freddie aimed to repurpose surplus pasta ,which ranges from misshapen spaghetti to offcuts, into beer.

After starting with homebrew experiments and overcoming technical challenges such as like pasta coagulating and clogging equipment, the brewery received an Innovate UK grant (~£350,000), enabling them to develop a facility in Hertfordshire and patent their method, which replaces up to 50% of base malt with surplus pasta/dough. Their process also saves up to 1.35 litres of water for every litre of beer brewed.

Green Gold Brewing is a craft brewery from Slovenia which has roots in hop farming. The founder, Luka Rojnik gained knowledge of craft brewing in the United States and returned to Slovenia to create his own brewery using his own ideas and local hops. Green Gold is located in the Savinja Valley in Spodnje Grušovlje and began brewing in 2016. Over the years, Green Gold Brewing showcased Slovenian grown hops and crafted a highly respected reputation in Slovenia. Bolstering this reputation, the Slovenian brewery crafts hop forward beers and brought international attention to the countries unique hop profile. To add an anecdote, I tried a Slovenian Lager from Polish called Brokreacja Older than Craft, this was brewed using Styrian Wolf and Styrian Kolibri which offered an interesting and unique herbal bite.

Recently, Green Gold has collaborated with British brewers such as Brew York and Beyond Belief Brewing. The beer of this review is Beyond Belief Brewing x Green Gold Brewing Space Hops which is described as a ‘fresh hop pale ale’. This collaboration symbolises the sustainable brewing of Beyond Belief alongside the expertise and knowledge of Slovenian hops to create a fresh citrus and floral forward pale ale. This brew was crafted in Slovenia and utilises the surplus bread (16%) alongside malted barley (84%) the wheat base furthermore the fresh hops were Wethop Aurora, Styrian Fox and Styrian Dragon. This carries an ABV of 4.5% making it an approachable and sessionable brew.

A lively pour

Space Hops presents a golden to slightly orange pour which has natural haze most likely from the use of fresh hops. A soft white bubbly head forms which lingers and forms a fresh looking cap throughout the session. Thus, leaving a moderate amount of lacing down the glass. A fine and steady carbonation is observed giving an inviting appeal to the beer. Overall, a fresh and lively pour.

A citrus led flavour profile

Aroma

Space Hops opens with a citrus burst with flavours such as lemon zest, grapefruit and orange all present. To add to the citrus burst, a floral hop aroma is aided by a herbal and grassy undertone which is mostly a product of the Slovenian hops used. This is balanced by a biscuity malt backbone which prevents the vibrant experience being too hop dominant. Overall, a deep aromatic pour which is well rounded.

Taste

When it comes to the taste, on the palate, Space Hops presents a clean and fresh hop forward character. A fresh citrus and light tropical flavour dominates with flavours of lemon, grapefruit and orange. The hops present a smooth and floral bitterness and which remains refreshing. A light and biscuity malt backbone rounds off the taste. The finish is crisp, clean and dry with a lingering grassy to herbal bitterness. The body was light allowing this to be perfect session choice. This beer managed to blend approachability, freshness and bitterness all into one can and they smashed it.

Time for my verdict

When I placed the order for this beverage I was excited as I had only recently tried a beer called Sunset as I stated earlier and enjoyed it, so my expectations were high. Although, I kept an open mind as the ABV is only 4.5%; I really didn’t need to, this was delicious and rest assured this didn’t remain in the glass very long. This was clean, fresh and fruity which is exactly what I want from a decent pale ale. I felt the beer perfectly explored the Slovenian hops whilst also not being too overpowering. I felt this was well balanced and easy drinking. Only issue being… I didn’t order more. I rate this a great 4.75 out of 5. Top notch in my eyes.

Where did I purchase this beer?

I purchased this beer directly from Beyond Belief Brewing’s webstore. I bought Space Hops alongside many others such as KoFI.

Thanks for reading my review. If you enjoyed this review, you will love my review of Brewgooder Peachy Daze.