The newly packaged Behemoth Lid Ripper (now liddier, and rippier) has been doing the Instagram rounds recently, but rather than pile on there just to keep my free beer status up to date, I’ll take a more critical look at both the IPA and whether there’s any benefit to the broader lid.
Behemoth’s Lid Ripper has been a standout core range hazy since its release nearly 10 years ago, and while it’s always been consistently good, one of its best strengths is that it hasn’t been afraid of change. The language on the can indicates that it uses Behemoth’s ‘favourite’ hops, rather than specific ones, which gives the recipe wiggle room. This year said favourite hops are from America and New Zealand, but previous iterations have been America and Australia. This makes it a great example of what I think of as ‘living’ core range beers, that change and evolve over time, usually for the better, and always for the more interesting.
The intense grapefruit and tropical core of the beer are always there, but other flavours shift in and out around the periphery batch to batch (this one has a particularly strong gooseberry pungency). Those looking for exactly the same flavour might call that inconsistency, but for me it adds a vitality to the beer that’s entirely additive.
So is the re-newed ring-pull a meaningful addition? Mostly. While it certainly makes for a better drinking experience if one is actually smashing it straight from the can, the broader opening is still not wide enough to really get the nose in to pick up that crucial aroma. But unless people are coming away with bloody lips from the sharp edge (I certainly wasn’t) then it isn’t harming the beer at all. And on the positives, if one does have a glass, the wide aperture makes for a fast and easily controlled pour, dramatically reducing the risk of an embarrassing foam-out. I can also see good application in glass-free scenarios like concerts/festivals amongst other vectors of outdoor drinking. It’s also undeniably fun to rip the thing off…