Big Drop: Paradiso Citra IPA (England: Low Alcohol: 0.5% BAV)
Visual: Clear pale yellow body. Thin white head. Lots of small bubbled carbonation.
Nose: Fresh hoppy character. Vanilla. Apples. Clean. Light flour. Cake sponge.
Body: Fluffy hop feel. Medium bitterness. Slightly light mid body.
Finish: High bitterness. Good hops. Light charred feel. Vanilla. Cake sponge. Apples. Light peppermint menthol touch,
Conclusion: I have to admit that, while I was confident, before trying this I wasn’t 100% sure that it wasn’t just a rebranded version of their Citra hopped pale ale. They have been renaming and rebranding their line as they move into cans, and let’s face it, it isn’t like it has the higher abv of anything that can immediately shout IPA.
A quick sip tells me I was wrong, this is definitely an IPA. I found it pretty impressive that they made the difference between this and their pale so evident and distinct at 0.5% ABV. This is especially true when you take into account the amount of session IPAs at higher ABV that end up feeling rough hopped due to the lack of malt backing.
There is a distinct hop feel, and a solid but not harsh bitterness against a gentle vanilla backing. The low abv doesn’t seem to give enough grip for the citra hops to really fully show through but there are still some distinct apple notes top and tail. It isn’t perfect – it is a tad light and slightly towards the watery side compared to a full IPA – again it seems the abv limits how far you can push things, but it is a very easy drinking IPA if not an exceptional one. Still impressive what they manage for what they were working with.
I slightly prefer Big Drop’s Pale Ale, as that is a great pale as well as a great low abv beer. This by comparison is a decent IPA for low abv, and a great low abv beer, but could not stand up against full abv IPAs. Still, considering that one of the selling points is the high abv and what they can do with it, it is a bigger challenge, so not matching the Pale Ale is not terrible criticism.
Another great low abv beer fro the masters of that niche, Big Drop, even if it is not their best.
Background: I’ve had a lot of Big Drop’s beers – they only do low abv 0.5% beers, and as a beer nut having something that low as a go to is a life saver. Possibly literally. Their Pale Ale is one of my favorite low abv beers and a bloody good beer in its own right. I tried their citra variant of their pale ale, but I am was fairly sure this is a new beer and not just that. This was grabbed from Independent Spirit and drunk while listening to The Royal They: Foreign Being. Yes I grabbed another album off them after my last set of notes.
