Brewdog: IPA Is Dead: Ella (Scotland: IPA: 7.2% ABV)
Visual: Pale yellow to brown. Large yellow touched head. Clear. Some carbonation.
Nose: Soft peach. Good hops and bitterness. Sugar dusting. Kumquat.
Body: Somewhat creamy and sweet. Crushed digestives. Good bitterness. Apricot. Thick texture. Fudge and caramel. Peach. Prickly middle. Strawberry.
Finish: Good bitterness. Toffee. Good hops. Hop oils. Quite dry. Passion fruit. Crushed digestives. Gets creamy over time.
Conclusion: I am seriously growing to love Ella as a hop – I have yet to run into it in a bad beer (I know inevitably I will – bad brewers can ruing anything, but the hit ratio so far is awesome). Besides that fact, I am also finding this beer an interesting second beer in the IPA is Dead set. It is still dry on the way out, but the thickness comes through as a much creamier body here. It is now getting easier to work out what is the base recipe and what is the hop.
Despite a robust bitterness and set of hop oils, this one is actually a very soothing drink. The creamy center is sweet and accompanied by brought peach and strawberry notes. Well done, though I will say – and sorry Brewdog – Wiper and True’s Ella Amber Ale still rules the roost as a single hop showcase – I must grab a bottle for review, it just kicks the hop perfectly.
Anyway, this is still very nice, very drinkable and stripped down to show the hop well. It kind of needs a bit more punch – I know the hop can kick a bit harder and it would work better that way. Here is it very mellow, though the flavor is huge.
An excellent hop, a great beer to deliver it. Just, yeah, Wiper and True just killed it, so this seems unfairly weak in comparison. Still very good by any measure.
Background: Ahh, Ella. Originally called “Stella” I believe, then a certain shite brewery started getting sue happy. Allegedly. I am a huge fan of Ella, just started running into beers with it earlier this year and it is already on my favorite hop list. IPA Is Dead is a set of single hop beers, with four beers released each year. Ella is the Australian hop of the 2015 set. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers. This was drunk while listening to The Gunflowers “Vote For UKIP and I’ll Piss In Your Bin“. Over and Over. That is my stance on the upcoming election laid out.
