Bevog: Kramah IPA (Austria: IPA: 7% ABV)
Visual; Just slightly hazy peach. Large sudded off white head that leaves lace.
Nose: Dried apricot. Wood chip dust. Bitter hops. Nettles. Dry malt. Coffee remains.
Body: Gherkin. Solid bitterness and hops. Apricot. Cucumber. Tart apples. Slight sour notes. Vanilla. Sour dough. Orange chocolate malt drinks touch.
Finish: Dry bitterness and such growling hops. Cider. Slight tartness. Granite and hops. Sour dough. Malt drink. Dry coffee remains.
Conclusion: There is a lot of images on the beer’s label that reflects the nature of the beer itself. No, not the greenery at the back, I mean the utter disjointed monster up front. There are a lot of big elements to this beer but none of them seem to match together in any way.
There is sour dough, gherkins, tart elements and many other elements that are unusual for an IPA. Also it is slightly cloying and has this out of place dried coffee remains flavour, though that does go up against the big brash bitter hops that you would expect. There are also some dried fruit notes from the hops, but less than you would expect. None of these elements mesh or complement each other, and so they do not come together into a coherent tale to tell. It all leads to a beer that, while you can drink it, you don’t really enjoy it, it never settles into a groove.
While the coffee like elements are bitter it isn’t really IPA style bitterness, it reminds me a touch of Mikkeller Koppi IPA, another beer that I didn’t get into too much. I am starting to think that coffee and IPAs just shouldn’t mix – the two bitterness types don’t complement each other. I’m normally one for odd things, but here I feel it needs more traditional fruity hop character. In fact a lot of elements from the coffee notes, to the choc orange all feel like they would better complement a different style.
So, yeah, disjointed, the elements clash and too dried coffee heavy. I cannot really recommend this IPA. While it is definitely interesting, in fact almost fascinating, it just isn’t one I enjoy. Very different to most IPAs but for once that is not a good thing.
Background: When I reviewed Bevog’s pale I got two kinds of responses. People who agreed whole heartedly and said most of the range was equally as mediocre, and people who said I had to at least try the IPA as it was awesome. I am an eternal optimist so I decided to give it one more try. So once again I hit the trusted Independent Spirit and grabbed a bottle to try. Oh and this is IPA (more than a) WEEK DAY 2!.
