Oakham Hooked Up (collaboration with Hook Norton)

Tasting Summary

These comments are the opinion of the individual reviewer and represent what they thought of the beer on a particular day in a particular pub. If a review is less favourable, it may be because the beer suffered somewhere in the supply chain between them and the brewery.

The River Ale House, East Greenwich, Greater London

Who	Score	When	Notes
Philip Pirrip	Not Tried	14 Apr 2026	Ran out
Hogan Sampling	Not Tried	14 Apr 2026	This very malty amber ale ran out during this visit and having only come on, on Sunday!
Philip Pirrip		12 Apr 2026	For 4.1% this was a heavy malty brew thus slow to drink. Lots of life, head and lacing
Hogan Sampling		12 Apr 2026	1st beer of this visit: Fresh on this day was this lightly copper-coloured amber ale collaboration with Oakham, Peterborough, the first in the UK to brew a beer using 100% Citra hops, and Hook Norton in the Cotswolds, and one of the UK's last remaining family-owned Victorian tower breweries founded in 1849 and still using a steam engine to power parts of the brewing process and delivering locally via Shire horses. Displaying very good head and lacing and lasting to the end. Not as sweet as the Milestone Cromwell Best Bitter as tried the day before and so a welcome alternative on. A very malty first hit. A rising grapefruit-infused bitterness from its new USA-sourced hop variety, Karma, lending a tropical and stone fruit flavour and joined by new wave UK varieties, Jester and Harlequin. A dark fruitiness winning over with berry flavours joined by subtle orange and lemon citrus hints. Not in the least quaffable due to its maltiness. A malty yeasty outflow downwards with lingering resinous spice and minty herbs. Not one to down in a rush!
Philip Pirrip		19 Mar 2026	I picked up few of the tasting notes attributes. Seemed more malty than hoppy
Hogan Sampling		19 Mar 2026	Recommended this copper-coloured amber ale by a fellow regular or two. Presented as fresh on this evening and displaying very good head and lacing and lasting all the way on this collaborative seasonal beer released in March 2026 by Oakham Ales from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, renowned for being one of the first in the UK to champion American and New World hops and established in 1993, and the historic, family-owned Hook Norton Brewery, a regional brewery founded in 1849 and located in the village of Hook Norton, Banbury, Oxfordshire, and one of the few remaining traditional "tower breweries" in the UK, where the brewing process flows logically from floor to floor using gravity. A stationary 25 horse power steam engine, installed in 1899, still powers much of the brewery's machinery. A malty first hit with a hint of berry, tropical and stone fruited notes. A toffee-infused caramelised bitterness rising. I did not overly detect its orange and soft lemon citrus flavours as certainly no citrusy after-effect. The merest hint of resinous spice and minty herbal flavours and a grapefruit bitterness. A biscuity maltiness rising. A fresh hoppiness prevailing with a dry hoppy note on the downwards journey aided by its hop varieties, Karma from the USA, a descendant of Mystic and Cascade, and the UK hops, Jester and Harlequin, the latter noted for providing fruity notes. Very moreish and so stuck to it and as also in excellent condition.