Beer - #381 - Bach Brewing - Hopsmacker Pale Ale

One of 3 beers from this brewer - Bach Brewing Ltd This is Brewed at Steam Brewing Company and this one is in the style: of and American Pale Ale, and they are in Auckland, New Zealand

174 calories a serve out of a 500ml bottle of a 5.8% ABV beer, and at 48 IBU Is well in the top of the range (20-50) for the Pale Ale style.  This would be about 2.28 standard drink units.

[caption id="attachment_8303" align="alignright" width="300"] of course the S-E-L-F-I-E[/caption]

Hopsmacker is the reinvention of an award winning original recipe, a new world style Pale Ale brewed with bucket loads of NZ Riwaka hops and US Cascade hops. Original Hopsmacker was Champion Pale Ale, BrewNZ annual awards 2003, 2004.

Tasting notes:
Fresh and aromatic, bursting with passionfruit and citrus.

This is allegedly a corkingly good beer!.

One of those beers that does it foam out of the top of the bottle on opening, not a gush though, manageable, and unexpected sip of foam for me.


From that sip though, since aroma might not be obvious now, is a 'this could be interesting"

Fantastic orange pour with a nice head, which I didn't think I was going to get, but I got there.  Aroma in the glass is fantastic, Grassy, grapefruit but well behaved.

This has a really loud and full on mouthfeel and palate, there is a lot of flavours going on in this, it's all bold and brassy and uppity.

It's all nicely bitter and a lot of malty and a great carry and decent finish that is just pleasing on the palate.

But I'm not getting carried away too much. This is just a loud beer that is looking for attention. It's a good beer, but its not polished or complete.

It's really bold with the bitterness, and the nice citrus grapefruit/orange notes and all and the warmness that the malt has going on. But it is a little brash.

I'd willingly and easily have a few of these beers.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 a of its things from the thing. I may be being unduly harsh with just an 8, but this is a really in your face kind of beer. For a local beer I would like to think that it'd stand to any beer in this class without blushing.  It does make you think as you've discovered that you've quaffed the bottle you have that you might have been best to buy two. 

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? Yes, it's a hoot!


2. Would I have another? Get in!


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I'd love to share this and talk the world to rights, might make no sense at the end but what a night.

I cracked out an unusual choice for me - Oasis - when I'm drinking this and so from the album called Definitely Maybe - this is just a bit of it - the track - Rock N Roll Star

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhsR6IdtWQE&w=420&h=315]

AMERICAN PALE ALE

American Pale Ales are light in color, ranging from golden to a light copper color. The style of this beer is defined by the American hops used. American hops typically have high bitterness and aroma.This is a perfect beer for big fare like grilled burgers or combination pizzas, as well as lighter fare like sushi and green salads.