This one is a favourite of mine at my village local, the Carden Arms in Tilston, Cheshire. I make no apology for it.
Founded in 1995 by Martin Barry on a 2bbl plant in Shrewsbury, Salopian was an early pioneer of lighter coloured, hoppy beers using New World hops. When Wilf Nelson joined Martin in 1998 they began to grow. These days they have a new brewery at Hadnall and they still push the envelope with their special Black Range for craft style beers. But Oracle remains firmly in their core cask camp, and rightly so.
There’s a fresh and light fruit aroma from those US Citra and Amarillo hops that each bring their own tangy fruit notes tp the front taste with a long pull of grapefruit bitterness on the finish - just enough to keep the tastebuds afloat.
This is easy summer drinking at a strength that means we can idle over two or three as we watch the sun go down at the back of the pub (if we are in luck). If it rains. it still refreshes. Ok, let’s have another then.