Here’s a review of BSA and Wobble in a Bottle (also known as Santa’s Wobble) originally published in BEER April 2006, followed by an earlier review of Wobble from pioneering website the Oxford Bottled Beer Database, published on 23 March 2001.
Hogs Back is now one of the most successful breweries in southeast England, but neither of these beers is regularly available anymore as the brewery has gradually concentrated on high volume session beers like TEA. Wobble continued as a seasonal special for a while but hasn’t been seen for some years. The barley wine mentioned below, A over T, is still around however.
ABV 4.5 and 7.5 per cent
Origin Tongham, Surrey, England
Buy from specialist shops, brewery (tel 01252 784495)
Website www.hogsback.co.uk
Hogs Back Wobble in a Bottle
I’ve long regarded Hogs Back as one of Britain’s most outstanding bottled beer producers, so I was delighted to hear of its success at this year’s CAMRA Champion Winter Beer of Britain competition, where 9 per cent ABV barley wine A over T walked off with the top title.
The prize was awarded to the occasional draught version, but A over T is primarily a bottled beer. Unlike many brewers that simply bottle their draughts at typically British session strengths, Hogs Back is unafraid to offer beers at gravities of 7 per cent and up that show off the potential of unpasteurised ale to develop character in the bottle.
The expertise of Hog Back’s brewster Maureen Zeiher at the upper end of the gravity range invites comparison with the Belgian tradition of hefty regional specialities. Hogs Back’s strong beers, while unmistakeably English in style, are some of the few bottled beers from these islands that, in my view, can hold their own against the best of Belgian artisanal brewing in terms of quality, distinctiveness and complexity.
A comprehensive account of the history and background to the brewery can be found in last month’s Beer, and it’s worth noting from this that at Hogs Back they have always set providing quality and consumer choice above chasing the money by concentrating on mass-appeal brands.
It pours a pinkish mid brown, with a fine yellowish head and a delightfully fruity strawberry, orange and banana toffee aroma. The malty palate is sweetish at first but turns assertive and mouth-numbing, with complex spirit notes, figs and a hint of toasted coconut, lifted by nicely balanced hops.
Broad strokes of toasty malt and fig rolls make for a rounded and long-lasting finish with a vivid peppery bitterness far back in the throat. Overall a splendid strong beer: my young sample bottle was already smooth and integrated, but would have developed further for a good year in the bottle.
Hogs Back BSA
The brewery is by no means limited to beers for sipping as a postprandial or bedtime treat, however: there are also lower gravity brews that still acquit themselves well in the bottle, such as BSA or Burma Star Ale.
Brewed to a similar recipe to Wobble, BSA comes out a brilliant reddish amber with a good white head. A malty aroma with minerally wet stone notes and a squeeze of citrus leads to a crisp biscuity malt palate, with more fruity citrus, crystal malt and tannic hops.
A drying swallow heralds a leafy hop finish with a good dose of peppery bitterness over smooth fresh malt. This is another well-integrated and very drinkable beer with lots to say for itself.
A share of the profits goes to the Burma Star Assocation, a welfare organisation for servicemen and women involved in the Burma Campaign during World War II, such as brewery co-founder Martin Zillwood-Hunt’s father, who features on the label.
Visit the brewery at its attractive site in converted farm buildings near Farnham, right by the narrow chalk ridge from which it takes its name, and you’ll also find one of the country’s best speciality beer shops, stocking an excellent range of British and imported beers. Here, Hogs Back’s own products line up confidently to take a well-deserved place beside some of the best beers in the world.
OBBD review, 26 March 2001:
This Surrey micro, named after a local geological feature, is best-known for its award winning TEA (Traditional English Ale) but also produces a range of bottle-conditioned ales, many of which are on the strong side, including this piece of festive fallout: it originated as a draught seasonal beer called Santa’s Wobble but the bottled version is available all year round.
It’s a rich ruby brown in colour, with a smooth head and a perfumed hoppy aroma featuring spices and raspberry-like esters: whole English hops are used. The palate is very full and malty, smooth and rich and fruity rather than nutty, with traces of brazils and marzipan. The bitterness, when it comes, is well-balanced, and the resulting beer is a little heavy but not really cloying, finishing with lots of hops.
Some strong beers from mainland Europe are very upfront with their complex array of flavours, but Wobble in a Bottle has a very British restraint, and its own subtle complexity unwinds slowly as you sip your way through the glass. It might wobble, but it certainly doesn’t fall down.
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