By Jeff Evans, chair of The International Beer Challenge.

Thornbridge The Union, 7%
Dismay at the removal of the historic union fermentation sets from the Marston’s brewery has been offset a little with the installation of part of the equipment at Thornbridge – and the Derbyshire brewery has wasted no time in making the most of its new asset. The first beer to experience the unique system of wooden casks and troughs that helps separate excess yeast from fermenting beer is named, appropriately, The Union and, just as appropriately, is a traditional English IPA. It’s a good one, too. Fairly sweet to start, it offers floral and plum-fruity flavours, plus a little twist of lemon, with a suggestion of caramel in the background before the bitterness from the hops kicks in. But flavours and textures here are nuanced, thanks to bottle conditioning and the use of brewing sugar that lightens the body. To round things off, the dry finish has a good old English hop twang that is leafy, almost woody and satisfyingly bitter.

Jiddler’s Tipple Hop and Cold IPA, 5.5%
There’s a clue in the name. This is a US-style IPA but fermented with a lager yeast and treated to a long, cold conditioning at the brewery. It pours a clear golden colour with floral and pine aromas leaping
from the glass. Then there’s plenty of New World hop action on the palate, delivering juicy pineapple, melon and grapefruit, along with floral perfume, spice and verdant leafiness. But, despite all the hop exuberance, you can always recognise the clean lagered base, which keeps it drinkable and interesting. Indeed, for once in a hop-forward beer, it’s the delicacy of the malt and the crispness resulting from painstaking cold conditioning which draw you back for more, rather than the upfront attack of hop flavours, as pleasant as they may be.

Adnams Double Ghost IPA, 5.2%
The Ghost Ship family has a new member. Adnams’ US-style pale ale already has a 0.5% brother and now here comes this bolder take on the concept. All the lively, luscious hop flavours of the original Ghost Ship are well in evidence in this bright golden beer. Orange, grapefruit, melon, peach and apricot, with a little cleansing pine, dance around the palate, courtesy of the tried-and-tested American hops Citra, Centennial and Chinook. They complement each other well and never become too bitter or cloying, which in less skilful hands might have been the case because this IPA is not too full bodied, with the malt base kept nicely in check. As you’d expect, complex fruit and floral notes, along with more tangy pine, linger in the dry finish, which is also a little spicy, thanks to the addition of rye to the mash.

Chiltern Earl Grey Pale Ale, 3.6%
Tea and coffee are on the menu at Chiltern Brewery this month. The two latest canned releases from this family brewery include one or other of these ingredients. At the top end comes Any Beans Necessary (6.1%), a coffee porter that disguises its strength brilliantly, while lower down the alcohol range there’s Earl Grey Pale Ale. Other beers I’ve tasted that have been infused with tea have tended to be much stronger than this 3.6% pale ale – the accepted wisdom being that you need a bigger malt base to support the intensity of the tea – so I was a bit unsure about this one. I need not have been concerned. This beer cleverly combines the fragrant, orange notes of Earl Grey with a delicate pale ale profile. A touch of caramel sweetness from the malt provides the foundation and most of the sense of bitterness seemingly comes from the tannins in the tea.