Tonight's beer is Hobgoblin, by Wychwood brewery out of Witney England. I got this particular example at the World Liquor in Iwakuni about a month back. The Wychwood brewery (then called the Eagle brewery) started in 1983 when Paddy Glenny purchased the site of the Clinch's brewery, which was started in 1841 but closed in 1961. He would be joined by Chris Moss in 1985 and together they brewed about 800 barrels a year. Paddy would sell out of the business to Ian Rodgers in 1990 along with changing the name to Wychwood, after the forest near Witney. Ian, who sold his house to buy into the brewery, would create a 40 pub chain based on the brewery. In 1988 Moss was asked to create a specialty beer for a wedding, this beer would become Wychwood's flagship Hobgoblin. The brewery describes Hobgoblin as a Ruby Ale but is technically classified as a Brown Ale. The beer has an official tagline of (which I love) "What's the matter Lagerboy? afraid you might taste something?", taking a swipe at the people who drink cheap pale lagers (it's the light beer crowd in America). In 2010 David Cameron and Barrack Obama gave each other six-packs of beer, Cameron giving Hobgoblin and Obama giving Goose Island. Obama claimed he would enjoy his chilled instead of room temperature as suggested by the brewery, who responded by creating a shirt that said "What's the matter Obama? Afraid you might taste something?". (This blog is apolitical)
I received this in a 330 ML (ll.15 floz) crimpcap bottle with embossed witches around the shoulder and Wychwood similarly embossed around the base. The label art features (what else) a Hobgoblin in medieval dress with a quiver full of arrows and a battle ax in front of a fantasy battle scene. The tags read "Traditionally Crafted Legendary Ruby Beer" and "Brewers of character". The crimpcap features a simplified version of the label Hobgoblin in gold on a blue background. On the reverse (in English) it is described as " Full bodied & well balanced with a chocolate toffee malt flavor, moderate bitterness", we shall see if that is so. It is 5.2% abv and has finally warmed up to approximately the appropriate temperature (59 according to the brewer, I keep my room at about 79 so it's refrigerated a little to bring the temperature down, but then left to warm a little). I will be using by British pub glass. Let's pop that top!
Nose from the bottle is malty with both a fruity and wet wood quality. It pours a deep burgundy with a white head. It is translucent enough to see the agitation, which is not particularly lively though it can maintain a head, but opaque enough to not be able to see though the glass. Nose from the glass is abundantly fruity with a touch of alcohol, in a sort of raspberry cough syrup kind of way. On first sip It is tart, with a chocolate fruitiness that subsides to a purely fruity back end and a dry finish. After a few sips it develops a chocolate aftertaste, and the fruitiness turns from raspberry to cherry to apple.
Listening to SPINAL TAP! I went to Iwakuni castle last week. The castle itself is a replica built on the remains of the original. Unlike Hiroshima castle, Iwakuni castle was a functional fortification at the top of a mountain. There is a cable car nowadays that will carry you to the top, but where is the fun in that? I opted for walking up the service road that more or less follows the original path taken to the castle when the original was built between the years 1601 and 1608 (6 Keicho to 13 Keicho) by lord Kikkawa Hiroie, Dymio of the Kikkawa clan and vassal of Emperor Tokugawa. The castle was deconstructed under the Ikkoku-ichijo, which translates to "one castle per providence", as the main castle for Yamaguchi is Konomine castle. Hiroie would keep part of the castle as his office and that is the mock up we see today. all sixteen lords of the Iwakuni Han, along with their wives and favorite children and concubines are buried at the base of the mountain. The graves start at about the 1590's and extend to about 1894, just after the Han system was formally abolished in 1888. Inside the Castle they had a number of weapons from the local area (mostly those that were made in Iwakuni), along with other Items known to be owned by the lords of the Kikkawa family. Many of the swords were highly ornate and in impeccable condition, but these are post unification and likely would have never seen combat. What I was impressed with was the massive Odachi that greets you when you come in. That sword is just unbelievable compared to the Katana and Wakizashi seen through out the rest of the castle. This is the only Odachi I have ever seen in person and it does not disappoint. They fell out of fashion after the Sengoku-Jidai, as swords were more status symbol worn around by samurai administrators rather than combat weapons and the massive Odachi does not lend itself to this. Size wise it is akin to a Claymore or a bastard sword, just unbelievably large. They also had some of the best preserved functional Yari (its a Japanese spear) I have seen, both with and without shafts. I've never gotten a good look at unsheathed Yari before and was able to make some good observations as to their construction. It would appear they start out as a square bar that is turned into a short dagger at one end and then an exceptionally long tang at the other. Unlike western spears and pikes where there is only a short tang and the head more or less fits around the halft and is bolted on, the full length of the Yari's long tang is sunken into the halft until it reaches the stop at the base of the blade (sometimes this is a guard with it's own blades coming off of it) and then a metal fitting or cord wrapping is placed around it to maintain pressure. They also had a few firearms, one being a traditional Tanega (its a Japanese Arquebus), another an 1860's styled percussion rifle, an odd Tanega/bold action hybrid, and a brass body percussion six shooter, all locally made as far as I could discern.
Final thoughts. This is a delicious beer, I highly enjoyed it. If you see it out in the wild go ahead and have it. You will not be disappointed. I give this beer my blurry seal of approval.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wychwood_Brewery
https://www.wychwood.co.uk/library/
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