Brewery: Thornbridge
Location: Buxton, England
Style: Green Hopped IPA
ABV: 7.7%
Version: Bottled
Source: Courtesy of MyBreweryTap.com

Halcyon 2008 was my first Thornbridge beer and it was magnificent. Halcyon 2009 turned up as a bonus item in my recent order from MyBreweryTap.com and it was…

Well, Mark Dredge summed it up quite succinctly (and has linked to a few other folks who pretty much concur). And I know I’m a bit late to the party, so I’m just going to chuck my 4p-worth into the hat with a quick gist of what I got from this incredible beer:

A nose-burst of fresh, grassy hops, cut through with lemon and lime, developing to newly-peeled clementines after the pour; the sticky tang of resinous pine honey, a steadily mellowing sweetness slowly rounding out to vanilla caramel; a light, balance-preserving, hop-bitterness on the after-taste that keeps the sugars nicely in check; above all: half an hour of purest beer-drinking pleasure from another truly memorable Thornbridge brew.

MyBreweryTap.com is offering a 12-case of Halcyon 2009 and Jaipur (the new, bottle-conditioned version) for £37.50 or a 12-pack of Halcyon 2009, Jaipur and St Petersburg Imperial Stout for £38.00 (plus p&p in both cases). Or if you’re in the vicinity of a specialist beer retailer then they might have singles bottles available. But however you source it, you really, really should make the effort to track this one down. Very highly recommended indeed. Huge thanks to Richard for sending this one along.