In the days of King Henry VIII, heretics were burned at the stake. If you were caught drinking Heresy lager, I doubt the fate would be as drastic; especially if you shared.
Made with noble hops, which are more traditionally used in bitters and milds which could be where the heresy kicks in, this beer is high in flavour and low in bitterness to make it an easy-drinking lager that goes down incredibly smooth.
Abbeydale Brewery is more known for it's range of experimental and classic ales than lagers, which again could be a nod to the heresy involved in this name.
More malt in the aroma than anything, slightly sweet and bready too which is unsual for a lager. The pour is deeper than most lagers, a deep amber which is more similar to a golden ale than a lager.
The flavour is initially crisp and clean, with not much happening at first until the malty sweetness of the hops comes in to provide a deep, rich and refreshing flavour that works perfectly with the carbonation.
The aftertaste is sweet, a little dry to keep you coming back for more and very crisp; it's a delightful lager that is the definition of sessionable.
Abbeydale always have great can art on their beers and Heresy is no exception, with a design that harks back to Galileo and his persecution by the Church for his theories about the universe that were seen to be - you guessed it - heretic.
The can features the world at the bottom, with the telescope and planets on strings competing the reference in a way that the slighted astronomer would probably have enjoyed. He's dead, so I can speculate all I like thank you very much.
The back of the can covers off the information about the beer and it's ingredients which is always something I like to see and that Abbeydale are generally good at.
You can grab a 6-pack of this hoppy heretic for £16.25 from Abbeydale Brewery's site, which works out at about £2.70 per can, which is much cheaper than a decent pint in a pub. And you won't get as many dodgy looks drinking all six of these as you would a crate of Carling.