Brewdog: Electric India (Scotland: Saison: 7.2% ABV)
Visual: Overripe banana skin to gold. Medium off white head.
Nose: Funky yeast. Coriander and orange. Vanilla ice cream. Light hop character. Lemon sherbet.
Body: Hoppy and fresh. Cream. Apricot and peach. Lemon meringue. Slight sourness/ sour grapes.
Finish: Dry wheat and hops. Peaches and cream. Cinnamon. Sour grapes. White wine. Pumpkin. Tannins. Peppery.
Conclusion: Well, well, another stylistic mash up of a beer. The closest I could compare this to style wise is a white IPA. There is the Belgium wild yeast characteristics and hops which I characterise of that style, but also there is the saison sourness and a good chunk of rustic character packed in there as well.
So slightly vinous sourness and hop bitterness with flavours that range across the sweet fruits and cream, all peaches and apricots and the lighter end of the spectrum. Put it together and this could be anything from a work of greatness to an utter disaster.
It actually works. Somehow refreshing despite the weight of the hops, progressing from smooth and fruity when cool to tart and sparkling as it warms. It is unconventional but shows just enough of each style that you can recognize them.
The rustic character seems to be mainly earned by the peppery character in the finish which mixes which the hops nicely for a spicy effect. Combined with the tannins effect it results in quite a drying finish.
It isn’t a sensational beer, the odd elements that refresh so much at the start become heavy by the end, and the conflicting elements that make it so interesting also mean that none stand out clearly. It is however distinctive, tasty, creative and full of character with good elements from all its influences. So varied in style it is hard to sum up so I shall merely say it is well worth tasting, and a good chunk of people who taste it will find it well worth tasting again.
(Final notes: After writing up I looked at the bottle and noticed it had heather honey in it, on returning I could identify honey amongst the sweeter elements I had viewed as grape like before. It may have been psychosomatic, so I left it out of the main review, but I considered it worth noting.)
Background: Another example of a shareholder Brewed Brewdog beer. This time a Saison hopped with Amarillo and nelson sauvin, and made with orange peel, heather honey and black pepper corn. I had a bit of fun trying to get this beer as UK Mail were being absolutely crap and failing to actually take the box out of the depo. Their phone lines were also a bloody shambles. Sigh. Anyway, it finally turned up and to celebrate I broke open a bottle and put on some Bad Religion (“Against the Grain” album to be exact). As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers, but I try.
