From Christchurch City’s Two Thumb Brewing Company, S.M.A.S.H (single malt and single hop) is the first release in a new series of IPAs featuring a single malt paired with a similarly singular hop. Version one (5.5%) is an all-Canterbury duo, combining Gladfield American Ale malt with Nectaron hops from new local producers Bold River Hops.
Nectaron delivers its signature bouquet of ripe stone fruit and sweet orange citrus, but Canterbury’s drier and more thermodynamic (hot days, cold nights) growing climate tunes those aromas in a drier, sharper direction. The American Ale malt provides a robust and full-bodied palate, with plenty of malt richness to support the big ripeness of the Nectaron, before handing off into the bold and firmly bitter finish.
Robust, impactful IPA aptly demonstrating that a good beer needn’t always be a complex one, and, for anyone with their own brewing capacity who might fancy another glass (or another hundred), Two Thumb have published the recipe right on the side of the can.