IPA is Dead - Single Hop IPAs - BrewDog

BrewDog... Why  are we not getting any of your beers in Ontario?  The Punk IPA comes in for a lousy couple of months and thats it?  I get it, you have a ton of orders coming in from around the world... but for for real, toss a Commonwealth brother a goddamn bone.

I really like BrewDog's ales.  The Hardcore IPA and I Hardcore You (Mikkeller collaboration) are hoppy-ass beers that I drank regularly while I was jiving in Europe over the Winter / Spring.  The Tokyo is equally pretty awesome.  I will be writing up reviews for several BrewDog beers, including those mentioned, when I do my feature on the Beer Temple American Beer Bar in Amsterdam.

This review however, is all about the single hop IPAs.  Re-fined and de-fined.  These ales let you zero in on a particular varietal's contribution in terms of flavor and aroma.  IPA is Dead; good name.  

The IPA is Dead 4 pack includes 4 different single hop IPAs made with Sorachi Ace, Citra, Bramling Cross and Nelson Sauvin.  I regrettably consumed the Sorachi Ace in a somewhat confused and dissociated state during a random night in a hotel room in Haarlem.  I can't really recall what it tasted or looked like but if it was anything like the other 3, it must have been really tasty.   These sort of confused situations are common for Canadians visiting the Netherlands.  

Once back home and in the safe and controlled confines of my home Groningen, I was able to pull off a proper tasting of the other 3.

First down the hatch was the Citra.  Why Citra first?  Well, because I absolutely love this hop.  I like drinking beer made with it and I use it in my home brew all the time.  Having experimented with this variety a fair bit, I cannot imagine it would be easy pulling off a single hop with it.  My personal preference is to use Citra almost exclusively for dry-hopping and generally avoid putting any in the boil unless at flame out.

The appearance was perfect.  Bright white, soapy head that sprung-up strong and never faded.  Body was nearly a bright orange with a tinge of copper.  My home-brewed IPAs envy this color.  Only a slight haze with moderate to low carbonation.  

Smell is straight up fruity goodness; mango, melon, grapefruit, peaches.  A touch of pine resign rounds it out nicely and the biscuity malts creep through to add some balance.  Taste follows suit with a strong but clean bitterness hitting the palate up front.  Not harsh or astringent at all but instead really pleasant while still being pronounced.  Mid way through all the fruitiness comes out.  Very tropical with a shade of herbal grassiness.  Finish is a lingering bitterness which is dry.  The malts have a graham cracker character to them, somewhat bready and not really that sweet.  Awesome IPA.

Next up was the Bramling Cross.  I am not really all that familiar with this hop.  Never used it and do not recall any beer in specific that was made with it.  I do know that it is an English varietal that is similar to EKG or fuggles.   

This one was way better than I expected.  Definitely different than the Citra in terms of aroma and taste.  Appearance is almost identical to the Citra, which makes me suspect they used that same wort for all the beers.  Smell is pretty hard to pin-down but it is not at all like other English / Nobel hops.  Smell is somewhat grapeish maybe raspberry or blackberry with a little bit of spice.  Taste is a lemon rind bitterness with a touch of the grape/berry flavor.  Finish is lingering, herbal / floral bitterness.  Malt shines through nicely, the same profile as noted above.  Quite stellar and enlightening.

Nelson Sauvin.  Some say it smells a bit like cat piss and the name is apparently derived from its taste profile being similar to sauvignon grapes.  Not sure about the grapes but I've noticed other beers using this hop have a unique aroma to say the least.  

Appearance is the same as the others, although the above picture makes me wonder if it wasn't a tad hazier.  Smell is really nice and somewhat unique, although there was no cat piss.  A little citrus rind and a little pine.  Very refined and straightforward smell.  Taste is quite nice. Similarly simple with grapefruit and orange rind dominating over pine resin.  Malts seem more pronounced in this one and lend a slight candy-like flavor rather than bready.  Plenty of bitterness to satisfy the fear when jones'n for alpha acids.  

Overall an awesome 4 pack definitely worth buying.  These guys are getting better every year.   Now if only I could get some of their product without moving back to Europe..... fucking hell.

ZG

Revelation Cat / Brasserie 4:20 / Mikkeller Single Hop Festival - Rome

ITALY!!!!   As promised this is part 2 of 3 of my Italian beer escapades.  In much contrast to the elegant and expectedly fashionable vibe of the Milan beer scene, Rome presented a host of weirdness, language barriers and a somewhat grimy but visceral experience.  

I feel truly lucky to have had the opportunity to visit Brasserie 4:20 / Revelation Cat and particularly so during their Mikkeller Single Hop Festival.  Did someone say mad hops?....I'm there, big time.

This joint from the outside looks like a grade A, top choice, dive bar.  The stoner name does not help rectify any first impressions.  Walking up to the place I really questioned the advice I had received that this was the locale to hit up for hops when in Rome.

Fortunately enough, I was greeted with a massive and colorful sign proudly pronouncing that that no less than 19 different single hop beers were available on tap inside; all fresh and recently shipped from Mikkeller in Copenhagen.   Damn Son, I'm game.

Walking into this place was a bit of a shock.  The grimy, low key exterior does not do the sharply designed and beer-geeky-perfect interior justice.  Really nice lighting, if you are into that kind of thing; and I am.  A decent amount of seating and lots of hops strung up everywhere.  Big chalk boards display the daily beer choices and the pretty killer food options.  The staff were super helpful and really knew their beer well.  

This bar is well known for its cask ales and overhead dispensing system.  Zack Avery recently did a video regarding this bar and even confessed to drinking Brit cask beer when in Rome.  When in Rome...but I totally understand.  4:20 has a certain lack of compromise that makes something local seem exotic.

The obvious first choice once seated at the bar was the house brew.  Revelation Cat, the company that owns 4:20, is well known to craft some really amazing ales.  My better-half and I decided to spit 2 glasses of beer; a Revelation Cat IPA and a DIPA (double IPA).  

As you can probably see from the photo above, these beers looked awesome and perfect to style.  Both were an absolutely perfect IPA copper orange with eggshell white, soapy head that stuck around the whole glass.  The DIPA (right) had quite a bit of haze to it, but I almost prefer that in a double...Visual verification of serious alpha acid content.

Smell-wise these beers were similarly phenomenal.  The single presented big grapefruit and orange with a really dank piney / herbally smell.....very 4:20 indeed.  The double was all tropical and pit fruits.  Big time pineapple, mango, peach, apricot and even a little hit of cherry.  Fucking amazing.

The taste of the single was very citrus forward with a nice mix of lemon and pine bitterness that hit the tongue hard but cleared off swiftly and left a clean somewhat fruity but also herbally finish.

The double was ultra rich.  Tropical fruit dominant with a super juicy mouthfeel.  Tastes like drinking mango nectar mixed with sour red grapefruit and a touch on pine soaked in gasoline...but in a good way.

The double has to be one of the best, if not THE best, DIPA I have every tried.  Right up there with Hopslam and Pliny the Elder.  Awesome beer.

I also indulged in some Cantillon Iris (one of my favorite lambics) that they just happen to have on tap.   I'm not going to review it now because I have a large write-up pending about my experience at Cantillon which includes this beer.  However, it should be noted that having this beer on draft in Rome is simply amazing.   

Next step was to head upstairs for the single hop beers.   

The menu was really overboard.  Every hop from ordinary Cascade to "you made a single hop with that?" Super Galena.

I decided to try the Challenger, Simcoe, Nugget and Super Galena just for the contrast.  I had already enjoyed several of the other Mikkeller single hop beers in their bottled form (namely Warrior, Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo and Nelson Sauvin), so these ones were new to me.

The fellow serving up the samples could speak very little english but managed to give me a good laugh when he insisted on making a spectacle every time someone order the Super Galena (see above).  

I'm not going to go through a review of each, but it likely goes without saying that they were all very hoppy and also quite tasty.  I will say that my favorite of the night was hands down the Simcoe (pictured below).  Each beer was very well balanced and I thought the simple, yet flavorful, malt base provided a nice canvas to display each particular hop.

In short all I can do is reiterate what I have said before.  Italy is quickly becoming a haven for awesome craft beer and the people and food there are amazing.  Well worth the trip for any hardcore beer geek.

ZG

Hel & Verdoemenis Wild Turkey Barrel Aged - De Molen

De Molen is a Dutch brewer who really pushes the envelope (at least in NL) in terms brewing big, aggressive IPAs and stouts.  One particular offering that I enjoyed somewhat frequently during my stay in the Netherlands was the Hel & Verdoemenis Imperial Stout.  It is a great beer with lots of roasty malts and little compromise.

During my last few days abroad I stumbled across a couple bottles of the special barrel-aged versions of this already fantastic beer.  In particular, the Wild Turkey version really caught my eye.  So I ended up buying one bottle to consume immediately and one to cellar for a few years.  

This little gem comes in an 18cl bottle (which is clear glass although you really can't tell when its full) with a bright red wax seal.  Typical De Molen label with all the specs.  This one weighs in at 10.2% ABV and was brewed in October 2010 and bottled in February 2011.  This is bottle #063

Poured into a snifter this beer is pitch black with little to no head.  What it does manage to conger-up is tan and fleeting.  Smell is very big.  Lots of roasty malts, coffee, vanilla, oak, leather, fresh tobacco and of course a large dollop of bourdon.  Taste follows the same profile with the coffee edging towards espresso and a little licorice making an appearance.  Damn this is pretty good already.  

A few years on the other bottle should tone down some of the hot alcohol in the mouthfeel and finish.  It will be hard to keep my hands off of bottle #004.

MMMMMMM.....good.  

ZG