North East Beer Review

This is a collaboration brew that had me intrigued especially with the inclusion of top quality brewers such as Garage Beer Co. Northern Monk Hop City was brewed for the iconic event which is hosted by Northern Monk every year at their Old Flax Store. Unfortunately, As much as I want to attend, I won’t be able to but I am happy to have tried this brew instead. So during the course of this review I will the history of each brewer and the beer, the pour, the taste and aroma and finally my verdict. Cheers

Four brewers have fun.

Northern Monk

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.

Garage Beer Co

Garage Beer Co is a craft brewery and pub founded in Barcelona, Spain in 2015. Launched by Alberto Zamborlin and James Welch, this is one of the most iconic craft breweries in all of Spain. The founders met as part of a home brewing community and a shared vision for breaking into a lager dominated industry by introducing bold flavoured ales.

Their first brewpub was located in Eixample district of Barcelona, aswell as a larger facility for brewing operations on the outskirts of the Barcelona area. Garage Beer Co is well renowned internationally for its creative style of beers.

Glasshouse

GlassHouse Beer Co started in Birmingham in 2016 when cousins Josh and Calum began brewing beer in a greenhouse at Josh’s mum’s house, which is where the brewery gets its name. Since then, GlassHouse has grown into one of the UK’s most respected modern craft breweries, especially among hazy IPA fans. 

What makes GlassHouse stand out is consistency. While some breweries chase hype releases, GlassHouse built its reputation on producing clean, polished pale ales and IPAs with soft mouthfeel, bright hop aroma and excellent drinkability. Their beers are usually unfined, unfiltered and vegan-friendly, with a focus on freshness and balance rather than extreme bitterness.

Messorem

Messorem is one of the most hyped modern craft breweries in Canada and has developed a huge international following for heavily saturated hazy IPAs and DIPAs. Founded in Montreal in 2019, the brewery quickly became famous for massive hop-forward beers, distinctive branding and long queues for new releases.

The brewery’s style leans heavily into modern New England IPA territory — thick haze, huge tropical fruit aroma, creamy texture and intense hop saturation. Messorem beers are often described as “juice bombs,” but the brewery is respected because they still maintain balance and drinkability despite the huge flavours.

Hop City 2026 is a Double Dry Hopped New England IPA which carries an ABV of 6.5%. The aim for Hop City 2026 is to create a juicy and very drinkable IPA with flavours of orange, peach, passionfruit and lime visible. All of this on a hazy oat and wheat base to make this beer rich. The brew utilises Indie Hops Luminosa and Strata, Crosby Hops El Dorado and Galaxy and Citra from Baarthaas. This collaboration was brewed to celebrate the Hop City 26 festival which is hosted annually by Northern Monk at the Old Flax Store in Leeds, bringing together leading craft brewers and over 250 different beers.

A juicy and lively pour

Hop City ‘26 pours a yellow to golden colour which is distinctly show the unfiltered and bright nature of this new england IPA. A foamy white head forms, lingering throughout the drinking experience leaving a fine ring of lacing down the glass. The carbonation is more lively than you would expect from a traditional hazy IPA. Overall, a refreshing and hazy pour but more crisp than usual.

A juicy fruit forward flavour

Aroma

The aroma of Hop City almost jumps out of the glass, immense tropical first flavours form such as mango, peach and passionfruit. This is shortly followed by a citrus hit, that of orange and lime zest. Beneath this, a subtle pineapple flavour present itself alongside a herbal and dank hop edge. The malt bill gives a slightly creamy aroma which kind of kept the explosive nature of the hops in check.

Taste

When it comes to the taste, this Northern Monk collab juicy a ripe mix of mango, peach and citrus flavours of lime and orange. This will be due to the hop forward nature and inclusion of hops stated above. An extra layer of tropical fruits such as pineapple is hidden alongside dank bitterness and resinous finish. The mouthfeel is still soft but with a crisp edge. This isn’t as smooth as a regular hazy IPA in my opinion but still extremely drinkable. I really enjoyed this one a lot.

Time for my verdict

Northern Monk x Garage Beer Co x Glasshouse x Messorem Hop City ‘26, wow thats a lot, delivered a pretty good hazy IPA which was pretty drinkable and refreshing. Although, the finish wasn’t as smooth as I am used when it comes to a Hazy, this was still pretty good. I have tried brews from Garage, namely Soup and Santako and of course Northern Monk. I believe this is my first from both Glasshouse and Messorem, this left a pretty good impression. I rate this a pretty good 4.25 out of 5.

Where did I purchase this beer from?

I bought this from Head of Steam Newcastle.

Thanks for reading my review. If you enjoyed this review you will love my review of Northern Monk Heathen.