North East Beer Review

A brew that was recommended by the brewery itself. Durham Brewery messaged me on Instagram in regard to my previous Durham Brewery review to say that it was ‘very sessionable’. So I thought I would revisit Durham Brewery with their Session IPA called Luna Wolf, picked up during a small trip to Durham Market Hall, this review will cover the history of Durham Brewery and Luna Wolf, the pour, the taste and aroma and finally my verdict.

A brewery to represent Durham

Durham Brewery was founded in 1994 by Steve and Christine Gibbs in Bowburn, Co Durham. What began as hobby, Steve turned his passion for home brewing into a commercial brewery. In the early years, they ran the brewery alongside jobs in teaching before eventually taking over full time as demand grew. The brewery quickly gained a reputation for producing traditional British ales alongside innovative and modern hop forward brews. Earning numerous awards over the years.

In 2020, leadership got passed over to their daughter Elly Gibbs, who spent years brewing with her father. Under her direction, Durham Brewery has expanded its range of modern craft beers while maintaining its reputation for quality, bottle-conditioned beers and carefully matured cask ales. The brewery is particularly known for producing vegan-friendly beers, with many recipes brewed to remove gluten while retaining full flavour.

Luna Wolf is a 4.3% Session IPA which is described as having “more late hop additions than we’ve ever used on a session IPA this is a bit special!”. This is hopped with El Dorado and Citra hops to give a bold mix of tropical and citrus flavours. Despite containing barley and wheat, the brewer has removed gluten from the final brew. This is also vegan friendly.

A lively and inviting pour

Luna Wolf pours a bright orange to amber colour which has great clarity. A thick foamy white forms which lingers throughout the drinking experience, leaving fine lines of lacing down the glass. Fine streams of carbonation continuously rise from the bottom, giving the beer a lively and refreshing appearance. Overall, this brew has a very refined and polished look which gives this a refreshing feel.

A light but full flavoured experience

Aroma

Luna Wolf opens with a great level of tropical and citrus fruits. This includes aromas of mango, pineapple, orange, grapefruit and peach. Along with the sweetness from the malt bill, the El Dorado gives this an extra degree of sweetness as well as a resinous floral flavour. The malt bill offers fresh bread to light biscuit aroma too. Overall, a light but fruity aroma which gives you an indication what to expect.

Taste

On the palate, Luna Wolf offers flavours of mango, peach, pineapple to then complete tropical fruit experience. This is followed by an intense citrus burst of lemon and grapefruit. The malt bill offers a biscuit to cracker like sweetness which complements the hop forward nature. The bitterness is moderate with a resinous to floral note. The mouthfeel of this brew is light to medium bodied making it quite refreshing and easy drinking. The finish is dry and crisp. Luna Wolf delivers plenty of hop flavour while maintaining excellent balance and sessionability, making it an easy-drinking modern IPA with a clean, crisp finish.

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Time for my verdict

Overall, I think Luna Wolf was a great recommendation from Durham Brewery. This is a brewery I have had experience trying and I hope to try more in the future and hopefully take part in a brewery tour. I enjoyed the hop forward nature of this brew along with the refreshing bitterness. This was incredibly easy drinking which didn’t sacrifice flavour. Being possibly my closest brewery, I really need to visit more often. Overall, I rate this a 4 out of 5. Cheers

Where did I buy this beer?

I bought this beer from Market Hall Wines located within Durham Market. I highly recommend this place as the friendly and considerate customer service was top notch.

Thank you so much for reading my review. If you enjoyed this review, you will love my review of Castle Eden Ale.