Crafty Dan 13 Guns American IPA (5.5%) - Thwaites Brewery, Lancashire, England

Barely a week has passed since my craft-beer-in-a-cannie virginity was taken and I can't help but go back for more, this time from another English brewery that's embraced the craft beer drinking community's new-found appreciation for cans, a brewery that's not only remained a family brewery for two hundred years, but has caught up with recent craft beer trends with astonishing nimbleness, whilst at the same time retaining its heritage with its core range of classic, traditional ales. It's managed this by opening a craft microbrewery in 2011, giving rise to its Crafty Dan range, one beer from which I took a particularly close look at.

Lancashire within England

The refined looking can design pictures a cannon with six cannonballs, perhaps representing each blast you can expect from the whopping six hops used. With a new trend for extravagant artwork taking hold, I like to think of Thwaites' more understated approach as a statement of another kind, a sophisticated bucking of the trend.

The beer pours a gorgeous dark amber with an off-white head that settles to a perfectly compact, puffy cushion.

The intense hit of hops promised on the can is delivered as soon as your nose swoops in, with resinous pine and tropical mango aromas presenting an unmistakable New World character.

One swig brings another big wash of juicy pine and mango flavours, joined by some citrusy lemon and lime notes, as well as grapefruit to add some bitterness, balanced by an undercurrent of caramel biscuit sweetness. The contrasting qualities of six intense hops with four kinds of malt make for a rich and complex flavour that at the same time remains astonishingly balanced and highly quaffable.

Full-bodied and well-rounded with a medium-dry finish, 13 Guns is fresh, intense, fruity and clean. At the same time it delivers on big New World flavours but opts for sophistication over brashness, being in-your-face yet staying effortlessly classy, keeping the measured character of a beer whose recipe tastes like it's been devised with extreme precision. Crafty Dan has proven to be one masterful son of a gun.

Appearance: 5/5
Aroma: 4.5/5
Flavour: 5/5
Mouthfeel: 4/5
Overall rating: 9/10

Thwaites Brewery
Web: http://danielthwaites.co.uk
Twitter: @Daniel_Thwaites
Facebook: CraftyDanMicro