Vocation Brewery
Heart & Soul Session IPA
4.4%
Cragg Vale, Yorkshire, UK

If the last few years have been all about breweries like Magic Rock, Pressure Drop, BrewDog, Beavertown and so on the next couple of years will be dominated by the likes of Cloudwater, Northern Monk and Yorkshire’s Vocation Brewery. I’ve had the pleasure of trying the majority of their beers and not one has disappointed, to date.

I thanked the beer lords about Vocation’s IPA, Life & Death and on a chilled Sunday afternoon I cracked open a can of Heart & Soul, a Session IPA by the Yorkshire brewery. It contains everything you’d expect an IPA to have, a lovely golden colour with a foam head, plus the beautiful aroma of tropical fruits and hops. Plus then there’s the bonus that at 4.4% it is incredibly drinkable!

Absolutely everyone was introducing a Session IPA to their core range in 2015 and it is something I hope continues. Sometimes a whopping 7% IPA is a bit too much in terms of booze (yeah, right) and budget so a Session IPA really does fill the gap between an IPA and pale ale. Saying that, so many breweries produce a Session IPA and do it badly. Heart & Soul is like a wonderful tasting IPA but without the strength you’d expect. A total winner.

OVERALL: 3.5/5