I’ve said it before, but if you want to precision test a brewery then ask for a double IPA. Everything has to work harder; the ferment, the grain selection, the hops and (in particular) the conditioning. As the ABV speedo climbs above seven, only the most precisely brewed beers will hold course. Deadlift, from Upper Hutt’s Boneface Brewery (8.5%) is one such beer.
Citra is the hop headliner, while Nelson Sauvin and Rakau lend some local support, adding some softer tropical and gooseberry pungency to the otherwise gloriously grapefruit driven aroma. Pine and apricot emerge on the palate, as the juicy and full-on malt base cruises effortlessly into the clean and grippingly bitter finish.
Given how effortlessly Deadlift is able to wield 8.5%abv, I think Boneface might have the sauce to crack the double digits with a triple….