Sunday, May 13, 2012

Aside: BrewDog's IPA is Dead

Having recently read about the Cicerone Certification Program State-side, and with the BrewDog four-pack IPA is Dead sitting in the fridge, I figured a lazy Sunday might be a good time to see what the ole palate's capable of. Keep in mind that, until today, I'd have been hard-pressed to name more than a few varieties of hops -- the famous Saaz, and maybe one or two from Arbor Ales' awesome Single Hop Series. And, believe me, I'd enjoyed many a hop-tastic beer in relative ignorance. Still, for what it's worth, my fledgling notes on BrewDog's excellent pack -- in the order I drank them -- follow. I'll reflect on what I've read since afterwards.
  • Motueka: full-on; what I love about Punk.
  • HBC: of grass/greens initially; more bitter/acidic later. Less power than Motueka.
  • Galaxy: more like Motueka, but again, less power; and brighter, with a citrus tang in the finish.
  • Challenger: English, like a bitter, in the nose especially; tons stronger, though, with heavy citrus in the finish.
To be honest, I had some serious, cheeks-puffed-out, arms-raised moments of relief as I read the following on Wikipedia, BrewDog's site, etc.:
  • Motueka: Punk is indeed made with New Zealand hops. I couldn't pick out the lemon or lime that BrewDog reference, though.
  • HBC: I can see what BrewDog are on about with the sweet potato, but only in retrospect.
  • Galaxy: really happy with this one as well, 'cause "citrus tang" should've read "grapefruit" -- hindsight again, yes, but you have to understand: my palate is notoriously muddled; getting that much is an accomplishment in my books.
  • Challenger: another big win for me: not only pegging the locale, but also the lemon.
On the strength of this result, I think I'll move on to the aforementioned Single Hop Series from Arbor Ales; I know I like their Nelson Sauvin, but Favourite Beers has many shelves of others I've never tried.

No comments:

Post a Comment