Beer Review: Hobgoblin – Wychwood Brewery
Wychwood do a good job with their marketing. Their website looks really great and they have worked hard at the dinstinctive branding of their beers. As with all their products, Hobgoblin comes in a eye-catching bottle with an interesting shape and nice artwork. But maybe they should be putting more effort into the beer itself?
Poured from the bottle, Hobgoblin is chestnut/mahogany in colour with hints of orange. I was disappointed with the head – short-lived ivory coloured – but I didn’t pour it particularly well. The nose was plummy or even pruney with hints of iron and chocolatey roasted barley.
The flavor is not as rich as the nose suggests – it is fairly smooth across the palette (too light really for this style), the dominant flavours being toffee/caramel, a hint of dark fruits and a light spicy hoppiness. It is pleasant enough, but to be honest, the flavour profile lacked any complexity. For this style of beer, you would expect much more to be there.
Overall: Decent session ale but nothing special
Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆