The Bells of St Helen's

Flavour, and I deliberately include that organoleptic duo of olfactory and oral, is a strange and fascinating area of study. Last week I crushed a few handfuls of coriander seeds and hunted down random citizens in search of feedback: 'orange', 'lime' and 'lemon' were the perceived aromas, along with the to be expected 'spice', 'curry' etc etc. But that first citrus family is what I found especially intrigueing - do try it at home, preferably on a saturday night whilst cooking curry. It doesn't work with powdered coriander, only freshly crushed.

So, along with some grated zest of fresh orange (I'm still working my through the residual fruit) I tossed the coriander into the copper and followed this mixture up with some very fruity Perle hops from Hallertau. The morning mash had contained an unusually high proportion of wheat and the hope was that these four flavours would meld in some beneficial way.

Well, the beer is going into cask as I write (thanks Steve) and I've had a sneaky little taste - yup, we have a lovely and refreshing wheat ale redolent of citrus spice and soft vanilla. There is a firm but welcome fruity hoppiness in there too and a mellow maltiness unfettered by bitterness - the whole is a rather balanced and tasty beer, very much reminding me of sunny afternoons sitting outside cafe bars watching the world go by.

From May 1st, everywhere in East Kent.