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 grazing around, Six Splitter, a limited release from Upper Hutt’s Panhead is one that really caught my attention. Bright lemon and grapefruit citrus lead to breezy and refreshing, rather than sticky, pine. The significant, but very lightly chartered malt base is more structural than flavourful, leaving the hops firmly center stage.
So far so West Coast, you might be thinking, but it’s how this one wears its bitterness that I found really intriguing. Rather than just pulling the big IBU’s (which it does) it’s so dry and tightly brewed that the bitterness kicks on right at the front of the palate, rather than saving it all for the finish. This gives it an almost tonic water-esque ‘whole mouth’ bitterness that I found quite invigorating. Less hardened palates might end up feeling a little lashed, but for me, what a rush.