Creating a great new beer is a fraught and illusive enterprise, requiring inspiration, experimentation and restraint in equal measure. But what if there was another way? What if one could simply take an already colossally popular release and just… make it more? In celebration of its 10th year in production, Panhead have done just that and finally pulled the lever on Supercharger X, a double-ish version of their classic APA. But making this sound like an easy get would be extremely reductive of the process involved. Scaling a beer up this monumentally, while maintaining its core character and balance, is a huge exercise in brewing precision, which Panhead have manifestly achieved. The zingy lime citrus, pungent tropicals and ripe apricot that Supercharger is so famous for are all here, just tuned up to the max along with a richer, heavier malt base and a suitably stronger bitter finish to keep all that extra grunt fastened down. Never has the principle of ‘more of a good thing’ been so tangible (and drinkable) as in this confident, triumphant monument to one of NZ’s all time greatest APAs.
