Beer - #605 - Panhead - Vandal (Fresh Hopped) keg

2015 and it's that time again, Fresh Hopped beers abound, and this is an old favourite in a current version. so Hop grassy beer, SuperGrass, Super numbers and all-in on party time.

Not only did the Americans invent hot-rodding, they invented hop-rodding too.

This is a 1 litre FYO bottle of an 8.0% ABV beer, and 90 IBU things which is  6.3 drink units in NZ,  This about  240 calories a serve size.

The Vandal is Brewed by Panhead Custom Ales in the style of an  India Pale Ale (IPA) and they're in Upper Hutt, New Zealand

In the late 1960's a Tauranga teenager called John Reid threw a kiwi hat in to that ring with the the famed "Vandal", a dazzling green flake 1919 Dodge Bucket.

[caption id="attachment_11129" align="alignleft" width="300"] Fresh, unlike me at the end of the day[/caption]

In his spirit we are rising to the other challenge with a beer named in his honour - a big, bitter APA stuffed with the tropical hit of Nelson Sauvin, Kohatu and Riwaka Hops.

Like any good hotrod, it's built to attract as much attention as possible.

So what could possibly go wrong?

Absolutely immense aroma of wet cut grass, sugars and a hint of a citrus.

Pour is pale, but you could tell, and a giant head forms, mostly on purpose because, hey, I can. Aroma in the glass is lovely.

Initial taste then. I thought this was slightly sour other than bitter, and there is lovely malt sugar thing there that offsets a little that thought, and I don't think this is particularly bitter bitter.

It is very green to drink, raw and insistent hop on the front end, and a finish that is slightly to the dry, the middle is fleeting but carries well.

Grapefruit. That's the one, it's quite tart and insistent.

For a beer that I thought I wasn't enjoying I appear to have sipped my way thought quite a bit of it. But I'm not totally engaged with it, for me this really is too 'green', just a bit raw and unfinished. It is nice to drink, but it isn't as polite or rounded or complete as other big IPA beers that I have had and enjoyed, I don't think it's as good as the time when I gave this a 10 that time I drank it. Seems such a long time ago.

This stands well in the great IPA category, and has, I think enough difference about to be near the front.  I could if pushed name 4 or 5 more rounded and even IPA beers, but this is as it says it is a vandal of immensnessness.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing.  I don't seem to be enjoying this as a beer as much as I wanted to, and I think that appears to be the case in that the first time was the best and each other time has just fallen short of that strange memory thing where you think you literally had an epiphany.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? I am, and I think I've been clouded by the first experience that you can never have again. Unlike when your wife walks into the room and that's just awesome every time.


2. Would I have another? I would, this is and remains a go-to beer.


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I'd hesitate with this version but I'd take it anyway just because it is what it says it is, and I'm all-in on that.

Music. Well it was time to get the old 'in the day' thing going, and so it is time for 'Supergrass', the album  'In it for the money' - listen here on Spotify

Supergrass were an English alternative rock band from Oxford.England.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9xwduPKgnc

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.

Beer - #260 - Panhead - Supercharger American Styled Pale Ale

From the new boys, as it were, this a Panhead -  Supercharger American Styled Pale Ale. Brewed by Panhead Custom Ales in the style of an American Pale Ale and they do that in the Upper Hutt, New Zealand.

500ml bottle of a 5.7% ABV bottle of beer, 53 on the IBU scale and 171 calories. 2.4 Standard drink units this one.

American Style muscle gets backed up her with real kiwi horsepower. A long, aromatic list of hops like Centennial, Citra and  Simcoe should lead you to expect massive bitterness and sensory hop presence , and you wouldn't be too far off in that expectation at all. One for the Hop Heads. 

Cracking hop aroma on opening, pours a really nice pale golden orange with a demonstrable head, which subdues to a thinness. Retains it grassy hop aroma.

This is Simcoe dominated - that the hop that is all pine , grass and cat's pee, which means it's short of length and a bit thin. Although it does have a nice inviting malt warmth in it. Check out the Hop list here, where I keep a poorly populated list.

This is the second time I had this , the last time was on tap in the Sky Sports Grill on the Auckland Viaduct and I didn't think that much of it then on tap.

Seems that by luck and happenstance I think that this is still the same, nothing more embarrassing than being a fanboi and then a critic in the next breath.

The pdubyah-o-meter says that this is average and more 5 than 6 average. I'm harsh. But I'm also a bit surprised that I've rated it the same twice by accident as I don't remember drinking this on tap, that's how memorable this was.

In context I think that the Panhead people are on the right track and I'm going to try to support them with their endeavours.

To ensure that you have an immersive experience I'm going to tell you that the music in the background  is c/- Chvrches, and dinner eventually will be steak, but I'll be on another beer by then :-).

Related articles

• Beer - #237 - Panhead - Days of Thunder (pdubyah.com)


• Beer Review # 1: Tuatara APA (Aotearroa Pale Ale) (lamontagneraymond.wordpress.com)

 

Beer - #237 - Panhead - Days of Thunder

It's Thursday, a work day, and I'd put my empty bottle in the car hoping to fill it tomorrow. But being how as I'm easily lead I've stopped off at the Liquorland in Newmarket and picked up a litre of the Panhead Customs Days of Thunder, a US  style IPA with an ABV of 7.7%. A one litre bottle then is about 6.8 standard drink units in NZ (4.34 in the US, and 7.7 in the UK)

Brewed by Panhead Custom Ales in the style of  an India Pale Ale (IPA) and they're in Upper Hutt, New Zealand.

Possibly named after the 1990 race car movie starring Tom Cruise, or a type of engine.

It's much more yellow and pale in the real as opposed to the picture. Trust me .

Explosively hoppy aroma, nice pour but a little shy on the head, again the colour is much more pale, almost cloudy.

Brilliantly bitter, with grapefruits and citrus and a reasonable carry with this. Not so bitter that you frown but more one that introduces itself with a firm handshake, which is preferable.

Really very quaffable, the grassiness of the hops coming more to the fore, but not in that way that blunts your tongue and kills off your taste buds.

Drinking this I was reminded of this picture. Which I found to be very needful.

Started off life as a  Honda XL 600 Enduro.

As you can see had a bit of a make-over.

Nothing to do with beer, or panhead engines, which are a Harley Davidson thing but you knew that.

But nethertheless a bit needful.

Moving on. The pdubyah-o-meter says this is a cracking beer, and rates it well at 8 - very good, on the random scale of all things.

Nicely done, not too overboard, very bold, and you'd be surprised at the high ABV rating that seems to just pass you by. Thursday night sitting in the evening sun got a whole lot more pleasant.