This is the latest in Volstead’s range of Nordic-inspired beers infused with juniper berries and brewed with Kveik yeast. This edition from the Christchurch brewery also sports a huge addition of hibiscus, which comes through right from the rosey colour. The pungently piney juniper emerges first on the nose, with soft tropical fruit and sharp red berry from the hibiscus. The flavour lands somewhere between the sticky pine of the juniper and the soft hazy fruitiness, with the hibiscus providing some lifting tartness. I’m not sure what confluence of factors causes it, but for a 5% ABV beer the body is staggeringly full, carrying the weight and concentration of something twice as strong. It may not be for everyone, but there’s a compelling balance of flavours here that you won’t find anywhere else.