"Blood Orange IPA" Zest and juice of blood oranges were put in the kettle at the end of the boil. Big rounded modern IPA full of orange flavours.
From the keg at the FYO station, 1 litre bottle of a 7.4% ABV beer, 220 calories give or take for a standard serve, and this in NZ is 5.68 standard drink units equivalent. Also this is 70 IBU things.
Brewed by Beavertown in the style that is an India Pale Ale (IPA) and they are in Hackney Wick, England.
We have never brewed a straight IPA at Beavertown, why change the habit of a lifetime!
[caption id="attachment_11028" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Orange like a fake tan[/caption]Here we take a stripped back IPA malt bill and highly hop it with the tropics of Amarillo and Citra and pile head on with kilos of Blood Orange zest and juice late in the boil, bringing you a smack of citrus and hints of warm orange aromas.
So what could possibly go wrong?
Looks great in the bottle, a cloudy orange, aroma on popping the swing top is mostly grass, and some sweetness of malt. Something vaguely spice too, a hint more than anything.
Pour is a cloudy orange beer, with a lovely decent white and fluffy persistent head. I get much more pepper in the aroma, caught me a bit made me cough in surprise in the way it does.
Much less bitter than I remember with an interesting back of sweetness. It really is quite pleasant.I remember from the last time I drank it that I thought it was bitterer and convoluted. From the keg I don't think the same.
This is really smooth drinking, I mean really smooth, there is no catch of bitterness up front. no tap of dryness at the back, the whole just washes over like a comfort. It is very comforting.
Don't know if the blood red oranges are for show though, I might have thought that there would be more tartness. Not disappointed though, this is a steady drink that I think I could be very happy with. Lucky really because I do have another glass and bit to go. No rush though, it'll be there when I get to it.
I'm going to let it warm up a bit, with restraint I can add since I'm keen to sit and enjoy. Who am I kidding.
Is it though an IPA to die for?, an IPA that is hop front and dry at the finish?, something that bangs it's drum in your mouth?. No, no and no. But that shouldn't be a show stopper, because as an IPA this is quite a good example, if a bit on the lower side of the peaks that I enjoy in a beer, it's all fairly restrained and a bit muted.
I like the citrus notes (there are some) and they dance around a bit, the finish becomes slightly drier, the whole becomes more a journey through a landscape. Which is quite poetic of me really, for a beer, I might need an intervention.
This is much nicer at the slighter warmer state, the grassiness is more, the citrus tang more, and the dryness states away, the overall very pleasing.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 a of its things from the thing. I go out of my way for a 8 beer on a tap. 8 beers on tap are wonderful things that need to be sought out. A very mellow and enjoyable beer that I'd be happy to sit and have a few of in a pub and watch the world go by.
I'm off to study how to write haiku, this is worthy of one.
The double dip review
- Am I enjoying it? I seem to be at one with this beer, on this day and in this light, that is. It is much calmer and less bitter, and more soothing and edifying than I expected and that's a good thing.
- Would I have another? Thank you kindly I think I will.
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I would be happy to turn up with this and a section of a cheese and crackers to fill those gaps between the conversation, which today might be on all sorts of things moral and right.
Music for this was "The Brian Jonestown Massacre" an American neo-psychedelia band formed in San Francisco in 1990. The band's output spans psychedelic rock, folk rock and shoe gaze. This is from an album called "Musique de Film Imaginé", you can listen to the tracks on the Spotify here
This is a track Philadelphie Story (with Soko)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r3ddNGz1C8
The album is a soundtrack for an imaginary French film, and pays homage to the great European film directors of the late 1950’s and 1960’s such as François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.
I have to say I found the album a bit of a challenge and not as good as the album "Revelation" which is like chalk to cheese and which I really do enjoy (also on the spotify here)
INDIA PALE ALE & IPA
India Pale Ale gets its name and unique style from British brewers who were making beer for export to India. This style has an intense hop flavor which was used to preserve the beer for the long voyage. India Pale Ale has a golden to copper color with a medium maltiness and body. The aroma is moderate to very strong. IPAs work especially well at cutting the heat of chili, vindaloo or Sichuan cuisine.
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