1) Is it just me? Am I the only one who is automatically skeptical of the beer descriptions on the sides of cans and bottles? The descriptions are supposed to sell the beer but, having seen enough of them make stunning claims about aroma and flavour that don’t stack up once I’ve had a sip, I take a dim view of them these days.

2) Which is why I was already calling bullshit on the description for Dainton’s Saffron In My Eye seconds after reading it. Mainly the bit that claims they wanted the beer to end up orange but instead it turned out “fluorescent yellow”. Really? The beer’s going to be a bright, illuminated yellow? As if.

3) Umm, as it turned out, that description was absolutely true. The beer is bloody fluorescent yellow, as you can sort of see in this photo to the right. I say “sort of” because the photo doesn’t quite capture the strong yellowness of the beer as it pours (for some reason it’s not quite so shockingly yellow once it hits the glass). You know those yellow banana lollies? Imagine a fluorescent one of those and you’d be in the ballpark colour-wise.

4) It seems the colour comes from the introduction of saffron. Which might also make it a bit pricey – saffron doesn’t come cheap (I didn’t cough up any cash for this – the lovely guys at Dainton sent it to me). In terms of a style, it’s a Belgian IPA, so that means Belgian yeast and fruity hops.

5) Which is just what you get. The yeast flings out some of those bubblegum notes, though I couldn’t get any of the peppery qualities promised on the can. Which might not be a bad thing, as I’m not sure how pepper would have matched up well with the fruity orange flavours brought in by a trio of hops. I didn’t taste any saffron either, which is more than likely because I don’t really have much of a clue what saffron tastes like. I do know what good beer tastes like and this one fits the bill.

Free or paid for?: The guys at Dainton sent me a small package with four different cans. Some of them got dinged a bit but the beer still tasted fine.