May has been a very busy beer month. We started with a trip down to Southwold, where we visited a handful of Adnams pubs and tried plenty of Adnams beers. Mid-month, we attended Hop City at Northern Monk Refectory. And we finished the month with a bit of a bar crawl for Alex’s birthday. As always, we also had a good selection of New Brews at home, including a selection of Full Circle brews and some Northern Monk IPAs.
This month’s top five new brews
Here’s a rundown of our favourite new brews for May 2025.
Raining Blood by Hoppy People (Switzerland)
DDH TIPA 10%
One of the first beers we tried at Hop City was this lovely DDH TIPA from Swiss brewer, Hoppy People. Hoppy, powdery and thick, with lovely apricot notes. Delicious.
Brewer’s note: Transatlantic Collab Series. Collab with Moksa. Dry hop with Nectaron, Motueka, Nelson Sauvin and Citra.
Brewer’s website: Hoppy People
Turning Fragile by Polly’s (Wales)
QIPA (Quadruple IPA) 13%
The second Hop City beer to make it into our top five is a 13% QIPA from Welsh brewer, Polly’s. We tried a selection of Polly’s back in February, but this one was extra special (and our strongest beer of the month). It was thick and hoppy, powdery and juicy.
Brewer’s note: Now that we’re clear of the dirge of winter, it’s time to kick ourselves into high gear and drop a big, and we mean BIG beer. QIPAs have always been a rarity in our output; a style so strong, and so heavily hopped that we keep it back to preserve its mystique.
With the advent of Spring being upon us, we felt there was no better reason to go back to this ultra-challenging style and Turning Fragile is the end result. With a beer this big, you need some serious balance, so a big addition of foundation hop Columbus is needed – touching a g/l in the whirlpool alone not too far away from the total g/l of some of our lower strength pale ales, a solid foundation needs some stupidity on the cold side, so why not go with a huge addition of hyper-concentrated Mosaic Lupomax, along with everyone’s favourite hype hop Nectaron?
A beer absolutely saturated in flavour – big passionfruit, pineapple, peach, tangerine and blueberry notes play off a bubblegum sweetness in this all out show of sheer alchemy from our brew team.
Brewer’s website: Polly’s
Beyond by Northern Monk (Leeds, UK)
IPA 6.5%
Not many beers come in pint cans, which is a shame, but this one does. That’s not why this one made it on our list though. We love a good west coast IPA, and although this says classic IPA on the can, it definitely has the piney flavours you expect from a westie.
Brewer’s note: Go Beyond. Explore a new world with a journey to the frontier. Craft brewed with Northern pride and packed with Citrus, Piney flavours.
Brewer’s website: Keep the Faith - Northern Monk
Blackshore Stout by Adnams (Southwold, UK)
Stout 4.2%
We were down in Suffolk for a wedding, so we decided to make a weekend of it and headed over to Southwold the day after. We visited a handful of Adnams pubs, had fish and chips by the estuary, and got to try this lovely stout. Despite it having a relatively low ABV for a stout, it was full of flavour.
Brewer’s note: Brewed with Pale Ale, Brown, Chocolate, Double Roasted Crystal and Roasted Barley malts, this stout is brimming with coffee and chocolate flavours, hints of liquorice and dark fruits. Hopped with Phoenix and other British hops.
Made using a selection of British hops (predominantly Phoenix), Head Brewer Fergus Fitzgerald has created this black stout as a canny alternative to other well-known Irish stouts. Blackshore has a 4.2% ABV and is brimming with flavours of chocolate and coffee, as well as hints of liquorice and dark fruits, making it a perfect accompaniment to food such as crab, oysters or dark chocolate desserts.
Brewer’s website: Adnams Southwold
BEER OF THE MONTH
Blend No.1 by Schilling (USA)
Spontaneous Wild Ale on Honeyberries 6%
We had so many delicious beers at Hop City, and it was hard to pick a favourite. However, we settled on this wild ale from a New Hampshire-based brewery. It was an excellent wild ale - funky, tart, dry. Lovely.
Brewer’s note: Blend No. 1, was aged for 6 months on honeyberries from Wayside Farm (Sandwich, NH). Pouring a deep crimson color with a fleeting white head, blueberry jam, earthy cherries and a hint of lemon peel greet the nose, with a finish of pie filling, funk and mild acidity.
Brewer’s website: Schilling
Honourable mention
These new brews didn’t quite make it into our top five, but we still feel they are worth a mention.
Broadside by Adnams (Southwold, UK)
Ruby Ale 4.7%
Technically not a new brew for me as I’ve had it before, but Alex hasn’t. However, there’s something about drinking it on cask in an Adnams pub in Southwold that makes it extra special. So special, we had more than one during our stay.
Brewer’s note: The Battle of Sole Bay was fought off the coast of Southwold in 1672. Brewed to mark its tercentenary in 1972, Broadside’s taste has endured for over 50 years. This ruby red ale delivers a cannon of fruitcake notes and is charged with the richness of conserved fruit.
Brewer’s website: Adnams Southwold
Famers 5K by Bradfield Brewery (Sheffield, UK)
IPA 5%
We’ve had a couple of Bradfield beers and have always found them to be very good. This Farmers 5K was no exception and deserves an honourable mention.
Brewer’s note: Celebratory 5000th brew. 5 malts. 5 hops.
Light amber coloured IPA.
Brewer’s website: Bradfield Brewery
Revisited
Not a new brew but a beer we’ve revisited recently because it’s one of our favourites.
Smug by Northern Monk (Leeds, UK)
DDH IPA 6%
We first tried Smug a year ago and thought it was a very good IPA. This time around, we battled it against four other Northern Monk IPAs, and it remains very good. We’d actually recommend any of the five as they were all lovely (and all available in various supermarkets).
Brewer’s note: Drink beer, help others. Each can sold of this beer includes a donation to our Faith In Futures charitable campaign. By drinking this beer, you’re helping us to support people, places and communities. Faith in Futures provides grants to charities, volunteer groups and community projects and in 2022 we were very proud to celebrate the milestone of having donated £50,000 to charities across the UK since its creation.
Brewer’s website: Keep the Faith - Northern Monk
