Hebden Bridge based Vocation Brewery have fast become a supermarket staple with a good chunk of their core range and even a selection of specials available on the shelves. One of those specials is ‘TR-HOP-ICAL’, a double dry-hopped pale at 5.7% ABV. It’s been brewed with a brand new, and yet to be named, hop HBC 630 which apparently should be bringing hints of cherry and banana.

Visually the beer pours a pale, straw-gold colour with a dense fluffy white head. The aroma certainly matches the name with lots of tropical notes coming through, particularly orange and pineapple. The beer is juicy from start to finish with very little hop bitterness to it. There is a light citrus flavour running through with your classic tropical fruits – pineapple, mango, passion fruit – making appearances too.

A quick note on the can art: You certainly can’t miss this on the supermarket shelves. Vibrant and bright with the hop cone front and centre! It’s nice to see bolder colours on cans.

On the whole, another very solid entry from Vocation into the supermarkets. While not my favourite beer from these guys, it is a very sessionable, light and easy drinking beer that I could see going down an absolute treat in the summer time. With the emphasis on hops in both can design and name I would have expected a slight bitterness which I think would have helped balance out the beer as a whole. If this ends up staying in the stores I’ll certainly pick up a few cans when the warmer months roll round once more.

Score: 7.5/10

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Additional Information:

• Hops: HBC 630
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: Not Available
• ABV: 5.7%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: Yes!
• Purchase Location: Tesco
• Purchase Price £3