St Austell King of the Castle (collaboration with Greene King) - Pale Ale

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.

West End Tavern, Marden, Kent

Who	Score	When	Notes
Hogan Sampling		24 Oct 2026	Good head and lasting lacing on this lightly golden-coloured pale ale from St Austell Brewery which got its engine fired up way back in 1851, in St Austell, Cornwall, and here partnering up with Greene King, set up in 1799 in the historic market town of Bury St Edmunds, in rural Suffolk, to boil the copper for King of the Castle in 2026 to celebrate the 175th anniversary of St Austell Brewery. A sweetly fruited first bite from this pale ale. A slightly tropical fruitiness rising as in a hint of pineapple and mango-like flavours from the tossing in of three hop varieties into the kettle, Solero behind the exotic tropical fruitiness, Harlequin throwing a punch of passionfruit and sweet citrus flavours, and First Gold lending a sharp, spicy and resinous orange bitterness. A distant malty hint providing its sweetness by a marry-up of East Anglian grain aiding a crisp and doughy biscuit base and exclusive Cornish Gold malt throwing down a sweet, toasted-biscuit. A hoppy sweetness prevailing before the slide downwards. Served in good order.