Another seasonal release from Flying Dog, and another fantastic label from Ralph Steadman.

Unlike the Poperinges Hommelbier I reviewed previously, this is an American wit that adheres more closely to the traditions of the style. Not as assertively hopped, nor as alcoholic, as the Poperinges, this is a traditional 4.8 per cent witbier spiced with orange peel and coriander seed.

Pouring lemon sorbet with a rustic dustiness, a rough carbonation throws out a billowing meringue head.

The aroma is dominated by walnuts and creamy porridge, run through with baked bananas, and a subtle orange zestiness.

The flavour is lead by a zingy lemon sharpness that builds rapidly into a verdant meadow-scented bitterness, buffered by cream soda, a touch of vanilla sugar, and creamy oats.

This is brought into balance by an assertive carbonation and a slight acidic tang in the finish.

While characteristic almond and fruit flavours remain present, the banana found in the aroma remains absent, as too are the more traditional clove flavours of a Belgian ale.

The result is a less complex take on the style, however this renders Woody Creek incredibly refreshing; a wonderful bracing beer to be drunk with gusto on warm, muggy days.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York

FOURPURE brewery are a new one on me; a UK micro brewery that's gone right for the cans.

Sure, Beavertown have started filling cans recently, and Brewdog made a big fuss when they started playing with the format, but Fourpure seem to have just gotten on with it.

Another London brewery new to our shelves, started by ex-homebrewers who wanted to add their own take on a variety of world beer styles for our enjoyment, this time unfined (read: vegan friendly), unfiltered, and canned with yeast in-situ.

Pouring mid-copper with tangerine highlights, and a thick, foamy, head, this was a lively effervescent beer with excellent head retention. The aroma is bursting with pecan nuts, ground ginger, marzipan and parma violets, while a caramel malt edge works its way throughout.

The flavour is surprisingly neutral: not flavourless, I hasten to add, but not dry, not sweet, everything here is clean and carefully balanced. Oatmeal and Hobnob biscuits provided sweetness, countered by the rustic crunch of All Bran. Amaretto sweetness is countered by a fruity liquorice and black coffee sourness.

A rich, sweet, malty biscuit finish is balanced with a sharp acidity from zesty, cascade hops.

It's not about to blow your mind, it's 'just' a well-crafted, refreshing beer; one I expect to enjoy several times over the remaining summer days.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, York

Mikkeller brewery is probably the best-known 'gypsy brewery' – the one that has no brewery of its own, and is therefore either fun and experimental, or gimmicky and aimed solely at beer hipsters depending who you ask.

I'm probably classed as a beer hipster by some, so I guess that's why I enjoy Mikkeller's beer, except for the ones that aren't very good. Unsurprisingly, for a brewery releasing upwards of 40 experimental beers every year, some of them aren't actually nice – they may well be interesting, but you have to pick carefully, and so we only order in those we know will meet people's expectations.

Beer Geek Breakfast, their flagship coffee stout, is fantastic – it's reliably so too; placing in Ratebeer's top 50 beers in the world seven times in the eight years the brewery has existed. You can't really argue with that sort of success.

Pouring unctuous and black with a thin espresso cream head, the immediate rush of aroma is of toasted oak, robust, fruity coffee, redcurrants, and bitter cocoa.


Opening with buttery fudge and vanilla marzipan, creamy coffee leads to a caramelised hazelnut flourish, backed by a grassy bitterness. Mint and lemon tea accents punctuate an assertive hoppy finish, cleaning up the palate after an otherwise sweet affair.

This, and it's relatively light body, make Beer Geek Breakfast surprisingly easy drinking, and much more refreshing than its strength and style might suggest.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York

I've talked about the Wild Beer Co and their penchant for experimentation before; their blended, barrel-aged saison 'Solera' featured earlier, and their Berliner Weisse style ale brewed with a sourdough culture pretty much suggested that this beer was inevitable.

Yes, the Wild Beer Co have finally done as their name suggests and cultured some 'wild' yeast strains and bacteria, then used the naturally occurring yeasts on apple skins to kickstart the fermentation of this, their bravest experiment yet.

What we have here is a young, unblended, lambic by another name, and it most certainly is lambic season now the sun is out.

Pouring a dusty platinum blonde, topped with the briefest flash-in-the-pan white head, the aroma is typical of the style.

Peaches and lemon sherbet shoot up the nostrils, shocking with their pungent fruit sharpness, before damp earth and heady farmyard funk kick in.

Apples, nutmeg, and grape juice get a foot in, but only as accents here and there, this is really a yeasty beasty.

The body is moderate, surprising for the style, and perhaps because of the buttery influence of the pedio. yeast and the beer's youth, this accentuates the yoghurt sharpness of the first impression.

A sharp lactic tang opens up into blanched peanuts and dying embers, a touch of petrichor subdued by creamy bananas and sour cream.

Not for the faint of heart – go in to this one with your mind open and your senses prepared though, and you'll be glad you did.

Recommened by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York