Buffalo Beer Biochemist Beer reviews, beer places, beer science.
“What’s your matter, Lagerboy, afraid you might taste something?” is the current motto for Wychwood Brewery’s Hobgoblin. Hobgoblin is a dark English Ale brewed in Witney, Oxfordshire, England. Wychwood brewery produces about 8,200,000 liters of cask ale each year, and Hobgoblin is their flagship brand. That’s a lot of beer! Their cool fantasy logo is one of the reasons I picked this beer up.
Here is a picture of the Wychwood brewery from their website. The town of Witney was known for 3 “B’s”, blankets, beer, and bread. Sounds like a nice town to me!
Hobgoblin is categorized as an “ESB”, or Extra Special / Strong Bitter, and is ranked #48 in category. Here is a picture of my beer.
Hobgoblin pours a dark brown with a tinge of red and with a one-finger cream-colored head. The smell is very malty, but also nutty with chocolate. Hobgoblin is not really that bitter, despite being a beer in the ESB category. But there is a certainly a touch of bitter on the back end. A hallmark of good ESBs is that they are not really that bitter to the taste, ironically.
Hobgoblin will challenge your palate a bit, as I feel it’s the subtleties and backnotes of the beer that make this beer stand out. On a trivia note, Hobgoblin was presented by Prime Minister David Cameron to President Obama in a beer exchange in 2010. Whether that fact entices you to drink Hobgoblin or not, that is your choice.
