Ölbeat 028: Top Fuel Hoplite Pale Ale

Brewery: Top Fuel Beer Company
Country: Finland
Style: American Pale Ale
Abv: 4,7 %
@RateBeer

Bottled power of Ancient Greek infantry?

Top Fuel Brewing Ccmpany has been introduced in a previous post about their Hippie Juice IPA (Ölbeat 003). Hoplite Pale Ale was actually the first beer I tasted from them. Since I didn't remember anything about the taste - just a hazy recollection that I liked it - I picked, opened and tasted it again.

What about the beer?
Colour is cloudy orange with an overwhelming white slowly lowering head. Aroma gives mild citrus and fruit. Taste starts with moderately bitter hops, joined soon with heavy grapefruit flavour and a malty backbone. Palate adds hoppy piny notes and the aftertaste has a dose of dry grapefruit.

This tasted very American, we are pretty close to West Coast Session IPA. Some harshness in the taste, but that gives the brew its edge. My memory was right: this one was and is good.

Ölbeat

There's something fresh but also something very classic in this beer. So, we'll turn towards this classic piece of rock:

Free: Wishing Well (YouTube)

From the 1973 album Heartbreaker, the song was probably solely written by singer Paul Rodgers, even though it's credited for the whole band. The album was to be the band's last before breakup. Guitarist Paul Kossoff was replaced during the album recording and is uncredited in this song, even though it is heavily labelled by his recognisable bluesy rock jamming and riffing. Rodgers has denied the lyrics to be a message to Kossoff, who was suffering from drug addiction at the time. They have also been interpreted to be a message to an unnamed friend who isn't happy about his present life but doesn't dare to chase his dreams. Being satisfied only "with feet in the wishing well" would be a genius metaphor for that state: ready to reach for the goal but only in one's dreams. Hoplite Pale Ale just asked for a classic rock tune, and this one hit my head. Sorry, guys at Top Fuel - your brews seem to make me choose only 60's to 70's songs.