Hop City 2018 Review!

Events
Written By David Loesch

We went up to Leeds for what was going to be one of the top craft beer events of 2018. After great success last year, Hop City, the UK's first hop-led beer festival was back. With much anticipation, many a beer lover descended upon Leeds, ready for a whole array of hoppy madness!Presented by the legendary Northern Monk Brew Co and stretched over the Easter Weekend, a total 33 breweries attended, all with one aim to ensure that these cracking hoppy brews are fresh! These heroes showcasing their hoppy magic included; Foam Brewers, Other Half, Bissell Brothers, Fuerst Wiacek, Mikkeller, Stigbergets, Dry & Bitter, Omnipollo, Seven Island Brewery, Equilibrium, Zapato, Burning Sky, Brew By Numbers, Cloudwater, Magic Rock, Siren, Verdant, Track, Wylam, Beavertown, Buxton, Stone, Five Points, Fourpure, Burnt Mill, Whiplash, Left Handed Giant, DEYA, North Brewing, Legitimate Industries, Wilde Child, Ridgeside & Saltaire.Hop City Leeds, Northern Monk Brew Co with Foam Brewers, Other Half, Bissell Brothers, Fuerst Wiacek, Mikkeller, Stigbergets, Dry & Bitter, Omnipollo, Seven Island Brewery, Equilibrium, Zapato, Burning Sky, Brew By Numbers, Cloudwater, Magic Rock, Siren, Verdant, Track, Wylam, Beavertown, Buxton, Stone, Five Points, Fourpure, Burnt Mill, Whiplash, Left Handed Giant, DEYA, North Brewing, Legitimate Industries, Wilde Child, Ridgeside & Saltaire.Hop City Leeds, Northern Monk Brew Co with Foam Brewers, Other Half, Bissell Brothers, Fuerst Wiacek, Mikkeller, Stigbergets, Dry & Bitter, Omnipollo, Seven Island Brewery, Equilibrium, Zapato, Burning Sky, Brew By Numbers, Cloudwater, Magic Rock, Siren, Verdant, Track, Wylam, Beavertown, Buxton, Stone, Five Points, Fourpure, Burnt Mill, Whiplash, Left Handed Giant, DEYA, North Brewing, Legitimate Industries, Wilde Child, Ridgeside & Saltaire.The event was spread over three floors, and tickets included some cracking glassware and great NMBCO bottle caps for tokens! :) Starting downstairs, we kicked off the evening on a high with what we felt was our top brew of the night, Equilibrium dHop8 - a smashing brew, packed with happiness and fantastic vibes of citrus and tropical fruit and a slightly thick creamy mouthfeel at a nice 8.5%! We were then blessed by the intriguingly crazy Omnipollo Shoutao - Peach Slush IPA which almost looked like an ice cream but at 7.0% was certainly not one to be messed with!Hop City Leeds, Northern Monk Brew Co with Foam Brewers, Other Half, Bissell Brothers, Fuerst Wiacek, Mikkeller, Stigbergets, Dry & Bitter, Omnipollo, Seven Island Brewery, Equilibrium, Zapato, Burning Sky, Brew By Numbers, Cloudwater, Magic Rock, Siren, Verdant, Track, Wylam, Beavertown, Buxton, Stone, Five Points, Fourpure, Burnt Mill, Whiplash, Left Handed Giant, DEYA, North Brewing, Legitimate Industries, Wilde Child, Ridgeside & Saltaire.Hop City Leeds, Northern Monk Brew Co with Foam Brewers, Other Half, Bissell Brothers, Fuerst Wiacek, Mikkeller, Stigbergets, Dry & Bitter, Omnipollo, Seven Island Brewery, Equilibrium, Zapato, Burning Sky, Brew By Numbers, Cloudwater, Magic Rock, Siren, Verdant, Track, Wylam, Beavertown, Buxton, Stone, Five Points, Fourpure, Burnt Mill, Whiplash, Left Handed Giant, DEYA, North Brewing, Legitimate Industries, Wilde Child, Ridgeside & Saltaire.We then made it up to the main Refectory bar, pouring a wide range of brews including two on cask and we were lucky enough to try the Hop City 2018 - DDH Double IPA (Verdent & Deya Collab) on cask at 8.4%.Upstairs we found ourselves where the REAL party was kicking off, with New York brewery Other Half pouring some absolute stunners; Green Flowers IPA - Double IPA 8.0%, Rake it up - Double IPA 8.5% and DDH Double Mosaic Daydream - Double IPA 8.5%, all super juicy and all uber fresh!The servings were small which gave us the best opportunity to try as much as possible but in all honesty the brews seemed too good! Oozing with fresh happiness, these amazingly good beers were very easy to put away and as the night went on the dancing and partying really started, with plenty of glitter too! Also with food from Caribbean Cafe, Wapentake, El Marchador Tacos, ParmStar and Holy Crab there was the perfect pairing for your beer. So wrapping up, we LOVED this event and can’t wait for HopCity 2019! :)

David Loesch https://www.beeryeti.com
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