Brewery: Full Circle Brew Co. | Location: Newcastle | Find them: Full Circle Brew Co
Full Circle is a Newcastle-based brewery that specialises in pale ales ranging from 4% to 8%.
We’d been building up our beer bank with The Craft Beer Gift Card (which we highly recommend), and we decided to use it to fund a selection of Full Circle brews. We spotted a couple more in the supermarkets, taking our total to 14 beers - five pale ales, six IPAs, a helles, a pilsner and a wit.
We drank these over a couple of months, starting with the Wit (which was my new brew for February’s New Brew Networking). The following night, we tried the two lagers for our Thursday new brews. Then we had the pale ales in April and the IPAs in May.
What we particularly like about Full Circle beers is that the hops are listed on each can.
Standalone beers:
Water Sucks: Raspberry Wit 4.3%
Kicking us off was the Raspberry Wit. We’d have liked a bit more raspberry flavour, but it was nice and light. Nothing special, but a decent beer - great as a summer drink if you don’t like overpowering flavours.
Brewer’s note: Water Sucks, Raspberry Wit is better. Named after the classic Sandler flick The Waterboy, we present this brand new beer. Packed full of fresh raspberry and orange zest, the fruity flavours are prevalent and backed up by the addition of Cryo Pop Berry. Amarillo hops are added to round this beer off with some extra citrus notes, way better than water.
Prost: Helles Lager 4.1%
We were both full of cold when we tried the Prost and the Meridian, which may have impacted our ability to smell and taste properly, but this didn’t have as much sweetness as we’d like from a helles. It was very light, but unfortunately, it didn’t retain its head very well.
Brewer’s note: We brewed this Helles with Hallertau Mittelfruh and Cascade. We love a classic, crisp lager here at Full Circle and this is definitely one of our favourites. Pouring incredibly bright and clear, this is exactly what you should expect from a Helles.
Meridian: Pilsner 4.4%
This one had a nice flavour with some floral hints and malty flavours coming through. It was a bit drier than the helles and didn’t have a lot of bitterness. Again, the head disappeared quickly.
Brewer’s note: The first in its series, celebrating the Hallertau Blanc hop.
This will offer a crisp and refreshing lager flavour with subtle grapefruit and elderflower on the finish.
Pale Ales:
Easy Peasy: Lemondrop Pale 4.4%
Easy Peasy had a lovely aroma and notes of yoghurt, citrus and floral. It had a great body and was very easy drinking.
Brewer’s note: A new first for us using Lemondrop hops in this one, supported by a classic and regular favourite of ours, Amarillo. To bring out the fresh, zesty flavours we hoped for we added 10kg of lemon peels. It's clean, fresh, super easy drinking and even though our 1 week of summer is over, you can still enjoy it in the rain.
Hoop: Gluten Free Pale Ale 4.8%
This one didn’t have as much flavour as Easy Peasy and was a little drier. It had flavours of orange peel, a slight pepperiness, and a little bit of bitterness.
Brewer’s note: Introducing Hoop, a deliciously refreshing Gluten-Free Pale Ale that packs a punch with its perfect balance of Cascade and Chinook hops.
Cascade hops bring a bright and zesty citrus kick while Chinook adds a pleasant resinous pine note. These are beautifully balanced by the subtle biscuity flavours provided by the malt which gives Hoop a smooth, satisfying finish.
Take Me Down To Oat Town: Oat Pale 4.8%
This one smelled like tropical fruit. It was slightly more complex than the first two with a slight sherbertiness and hints of bitter orange (almost like Aperol).
Brewer’s note: The first thing you notice is a beautifully light, straw hue and an extremely luxurious mouthfeel from all of the jumbo rolled oats we packed into this guy. Expect flavours of apricot, passionfruit and candied lemon on the nose with a gentle bitter finish to round out this perfectly balanced number.
Rotator: Hazy Pale 5.2%
Rotator was sticky, dank and hazy, with a good mouthfeel and tropical flavours.
Brewer’s note: Rotator starts off with juicy, fruity Citra and a burst of citrus and tropical fruit notes. It is rounded off by the stone fruit, earthy character of Idaho 7 giving this beer the perfect balance.
Stardust: Hazy Pale 5.2%
Thick, tropical, powdery and sweet with a lingering bitterness. This was one of the two we picked up from the supermarket, and unfortunately, it doesn’t have any brewer’s notes other than the hops.
Brewer’s note: Hops: Columbus, Citra, Krush.
IPAs:
Repeater: Session IPA 4.2%
We kicked off the IPAs with this lovely light summer beer. It had a tropical aroma with a slight dankness. Nice malty body and flavour, with high carbonation.
Brewer’s note: Brewed with a blend of Centennial, Amarillo and Mosaic hops, Repeater boasts that classic American hop profile bursting with juicy citrus notes. This beer is finished off with hints of tropical fruit and a touch of classic bitterness of pine resin.
Deathwish: IPA 6%
Similar aroma to the Repeater, but thicker and sweeter in the mouth. Lovely body, and not as much carbonation (although it doesn’t need it with the thicker mouthfeel).
Brewer’s note: Krush starts this beer off with bags of delicious tropical flavours, mango, pineapple and citrus. The earthy character provided by Simcoe and Columbus bring balance to this IPA, finishing off each sip with resinous, pith and stone fruit notes. This has been brewed in collaboration with Rituals, a local band and friends of the brewery. Their show at The Cluny on November 9th to launch their new single 'Death Wish' is this beer's namesake.
The Butterfly Effect: Hazy IPA 6.2%
This one had flavours of dank stone fruits and a good body. Fewer flavours coming through from the esters, and not as creamy as the last one. This one was the second of the two beers we found in the supermarket.
Brewer’s note: Hazy IPA hopped with Cryo Pop, Simcoe, and Cashmere.
Looper: IPA 6.4%
This one had slightly more lemon on the aroma, with bubblegum flavours and a slight bitterness. A little lighter than the previous two brews.
Brewer’s note: Our flagship beer and core IPA, Looper is our pride and joy. Soft and juice with zesty sweet lemon and lime. Hugely drinkable. Hopped up to the eyes, bitterness takes a back seat to gentle grapefruit.
Stay Safe You Crazy Kids: IPA 6.5%
Notes of orange or tangerine and a grapefruit-like bitterness on the finish. Probably the most bitter of the selection.
Brewer’s note: A very wise brewery guest's parting words were "Stay Safe You Crazy Kids" - immediately after, this beer was born. Trident packs this with the classic tropical and citrus fruit flavours you expect from one of our seasonal IPAs. Balanced out by the addition of Centennial and Bru-1, providing this beer with some piney, floral notes. We don't use this word too often, but this one is definitely dank, grassy and packed with hop flavour.
Dip Club: Cold DIPA 8.2%
This was our beer of the night. A lovely cross between a lager and an IPA - crisp but flavourful. Hardly any bitterness, peach notes and very refreshing.
Brewer’s note: The first release of our Full Circle Balance series is this Cold DIPA brewed with Cascade, CTZ & Talus to provide beautiful pithy flavours and aromas of citrus as well as lots of floral character, then rounded off with Luminosa to give a classic tropical punch. Crisp and refreshing, just like a dip in the ocean.
