It’s not often, or at all you see beers from Epic in the UK so when I spotted a couple of their beers on the list for the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) this year I got more than a little excited. As soon as I got through the door at GBBF (more on the festival in another blog post) I went straight for the bottled secion and picked up a bottle of Epic Mayhem along with a few others.
Epic by name Epic by nature
It wasn’t cheap at £6 IIRC but it has had to travel a long way and it was a beer I didn’t want to miss.
According to the blurb on the rather lovely tall skinny bottle, “This isn’t your ordinary beer de jour. It is so packed with hop-fuelled flavour and aroma that it will invigorate even the hardest hop-head. Brewed as our special festival beer, only available for a limited time. mayhem will alter your beer reality forever. Enjoy this road to hoppyness with caution.”
I think you’ll agree that’s some intro and sets the expectation bar quite high. Luckily I’m happy to report that it not only clears the bar it smashes the track record by a long way.
Mayhem pours a lovely rich amber colour with a lively bubbly head, It smells of over ripe tropical fruits and oranges with just a hint of sweetness. In the mouth there’s a little bit of caramel wafer which is complimented by resiny fruits, melon, orange and something a little bit more fruity that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The finish is quite dry , not hugely bitter but just bitter enough. It’s also extremely session-able for a beer over 6%.
I forgot to check how old the bottle was but I had travelled extremely well, having said that I would love to try a fresh one, Now if only I could find an excuse (and the money) to take a trip to NZ and visit some breweries like on NZ Beer TV
I really did love this beer and I’m glad I bought it, The name’s cool, the bottle’s cool and the beer is brilliant, what a great way to pop my Epic Cherry.
PS Kelly/Luke if your reading this please export more beers to the UK soon I know they will be a big hit.
Funnily enough, asked Kelly something similar bout UK availabilty the other day… As you say, may well have to bite the bullet and pony up some cash for a long flight!