Beers Of London Series
12. The Kernel - Pale Ale Amarillo 5.7%

You may find this hard to believe but I really wasn't sure when to review a Kernel beer in this series. I figured that most of you would have had a few of their fabulous beers by now and so this might be a review that wouldn't be read that much. I knew that I had to include some beer from the Kernel Brewery here, any omission would be practically criminal, but where to include it was causing me a tiny headache. In the end I decided that it didn't much matter when I put one in, it just had to be fresh if it was going to be a Pale Ale, and as I've had this one with it's Amarillo hop goodness for a couple of weeks then I couldn't wait any longer. Just knowing I hadn't drunk it yet got too much for me. I haven't reviewed a Kernel beer in this blog since this review back in August last year due to the simple fact that if you look online then you'll find that the internet is full of them. Everybody who likes good beer has wanted to drink Kernel beer since Evin O'Riordan started brewing it in September 2009, testament to the sheer quality of their output. A Kernel Pale Ale or IPA is my wife's default beer setting, she says that she's never had a bad one, and she's right too. So, with no more hand-wringing or brow furrowing I'll just open the bottle and drink it!
It pours the colour of old gold, sunset orange fading to a pale yellow with big bubbly nearly-white head. The aroma majors in pine sap, with orange peel and grapefruit peel elbowing and jostling each other for supremacy just behind. Skipping over the tongue with little pops of carbonation, there's cart-loads of pithy grapefruit in the taste, all topped with a dusting of zesty orange peel. There is a brief lull in the intensity of the sharpness when you get a little wash of juicy satsuma but then back comes the grapefruit and orange peel, and it's brought some white pepper out to play this time too. The finish is pulped whole orange and grapefruit, all sharp, gorgeous and drying out with a slight spicy warmth right at the death.
If you like good tasty beer, and you like big, bold and juicy pale ales then you probably couldn't do much better. Just like my wife said, you can't go wrong with a Kernel.