Brewdog: IPA Is Dead: Exp 366 (Scotland: IPA: 7.2% ABV)
Visual: Clear apricot. Small off white head and some carbonation.
Nose: Resinous. Apricot. Passion fruit. Vanilla toffee. Gooseberry. Light hop bitterness. Pineapple. Digestives.
Body: Pineapple. Good bitterness. Light chalk touch. Passion fruit. Hop oils. Grapes. Peach syrup.
Finish: Hop bitterness. Resinous. Dried apricot. Aubergine. Dry hops. Gooseberry.
Conclusion: Now this is where this year’s IPA Is Dead really shows its stuff. Also the first beer I tried, on tap and without my review kit but still it counts. This really lays on the fruit, mixing tart and sweet elements with skill. The body is crisp like most of this year’s take, but the flavor somehow lens it a musky thicker feel that has been lacking in most of this year’s takes.
The fruit is tropical and citrus as hell, the level of flavor is high but still drinkable, everything is fresh at the front with the resinous and hop oil notes lying below for a harsher edge to lead the beer out with. Even as a single hop used on its own it has a good progression throughout the beer with the finish showing enough hop oils and robust character without being so heavy as to trample on the main body that has come before it.
As a beer rather than a hop example this beer’s thicker feel is exactly what the IID series needed, making the crisp and drinkable style match up with just the perfect grip on the tongue.
As a hop example it has everything needed for a good IPA, enough NZ style tartness along with the USA like sweet fruit, all shook up with old school hop oils and moderate bitterness.
Very impressive.
Background: Regularly readers will already be able to guess 90% of what this is. A single hop beer from Brewdog, a brewer about which I am not unbiased, same recipe for each of four beers released each year. Ok, all caught up? Rock. Exp 366 is an experimental hop from America which I know little else about. This was drunk while listening to a bit of Anathema. Because I am a cheery person.