fruitallica

This is a re-brew of the original collaboration done with Stone Brewing in 2017, once again containing golden kiwifruit, yuzu and habanero chilli.  I missed out on the original release, so I’ll get to experience this juiced-up ride (8 per cent ABV) for the first time here.  On the nose the yuzu pops off as always out in front, with lychee and mango dominated hops and some soft kiwifruit sweetness further back.  The flavour is such a rapid and juicy ride that picking out the individual flavours as they race past is difficult, but the sharpness of the yuzu stays more or less at the forefront, with massively ripe hop fruitiness punctuating the mid palate.  At first you might even miss the chilli, but a few sips in, a building warmth will remind you they’re in there.  This is a hard one to classify.  It’s got the juice of a hazy, but the clarity and bite of a west coast IPA, and that’s even before the fruit comes into the equation.  Safe to say though that if you like an IPA with simply ‘more’ then you’ll love this one.

Brothers Beer Mighty Quinn Quadruple IPA

How strong is too strong? Opinions differ, but for my part I believe that if you want to go nuts, then you should go nuts.  Usually this means brewing a double, or even triple IPA, but not to Auckland’s Brothers Beer, who have well and truly gone nuts with their 13.5%...

Panhead Six Splitter WCIPA

Even without the proximity to the Malthouse WCIPA Challenge, it feels like we’ve been feasting (or sipping, at least) on vastly more West Coast style IPA than usual these last few months.  Even I haven’t had the opportunity to try them all (yet), but as I’ve been...

Renaissance Black The RIPA

Black IPAs are few and far between these days, almost to the point that one could credibly call it something of a ‘retired’ style, but I’m always glad to see the odd one now and then to give some contrast in the IPA space. Black The RIPA from Renaissance is doubly...

Lakeman Rogue HoG

Taupo’s Lakeman has been revving their IPA engine again with another slot in the recently announced New World Beer & Cider Awards Top 25 (and not their only one either), for this West Coast style IPA. Classically styled, with assertive pine and pithy grapefruit up...

Bach Brewing All Day Go

Bach Brewing All Day Go, a vitamin fortified non-alcoholic pale ale, is the latest addition to their burgeoning (and wildly successful) non-alc range.  Seeing any beer that has been in any way ‘fortified’ with something chemical rather than culinary, always raises the...

DNA Brewing Moulin Rouge

Another release from the Malthouse West Coast IPA challenge, this time from Blenheim’s DNA Brewing. Spectacularly bright and sharp citrus led nose, with a distinctly herbal undertow of rosemary and thyme running underneath. The palate kicks off with big, pithy...