Brewdog: Ace Of Chinook (Scotland: Session IPA: 4.5% ABV)
Visual: Pale yellow. Middling carbonation. Large white creamy bubbled head. White suds left afterwards.
Nose: Crisp hops. Sweet vanilla. Pine needles. Pineapple. Fresh.
Body: Tart grapes. Sweet grape juice. Vanilla toffee and custard. Slightly thin late on.
Finish: White grapes. Vanilla. Light pineapple. Shortbread. Light peppermint. Light greenery.
Conclusion: I nearly passed on this one. Nearly. I am glad I didn’t. Session IPAs are rarely my thing, and the last “Ace of” beer really didn’t grab me. However they seem to have got past that and honed this one in nicely.
While a slight bit thin late on, this seems to have solved a lot of the usual session IPA issues. The base has a moderate sweet backing, the greenery – while present – is far from the dominant note. It becomes drying only in the finish, but avoids cardboard like notes and for the rest of the beer it gives a good solid base for the hops to express themselves.
The hops delivery is straightforward – straight up fresh grapes and light pine needles, there is some hop bitterness but generally more on that tart and fresh flavours, less on the bitter kick.
It fits what a session IPA should do – lots of flavour, easy drinking and without too many harsh notes. Beavertown still have my favorite session IPA with Neck Oil, but this gives me new hope for the “Ace of” range and is an enjoyable beer in itself.
A nice suprise.
Background: I am generally not a fan of session IPAs, I am far from an unbiased actor on Brewdog. So, that is the whole bias thing out of the way. This was grabbed directly from Brewdog’s online store. Drunk while listening to Some Television Villain in preparation to go see them live again. They are currently gigging around the Bath and Bristol area – check them out if you can!
