Brewdog: IPA Is Dead: Kohatu (Scotland; IPA: 7.2% ABV)
Visual: Gold. Overripe banana yellow bubbled head, some carbonation to the body.
Nose: Passion fruit. Eggplant. Peppery. Purple peppers. Moderate hop character. Dried apricot. Big feel. Toffee malt.
Body: Big bitterness and good hops. Peppery. Kumquat. Tangerine and dried apricot. Elderberry. Passion fruit. Light toffee. Crisp feel. Jolly ranchers.
Finish: Hops and bitterness. Sour grapes. Elderberry. Pepper. Watermelon in a jolly ranchers style.
Conclusion: Fruit-damn-punch (all one word). Damn, it really is fruit punch. If anything shows how much the malt level of this years IID fades into the background it is this thing. This is nigh pure fruit hops.
The aroma is wonderfully pungent and full of lovely dry textured fruit (Can an aroma have a texture? For now I am saying yes, but don’t hold me to that). The body has that same crisp style that was so evident in Comet and so it almost seems to light in feel, the beer just doesn’t seem to grip at all. However this somehow manages not to impact the flavor which comes in just wonderful, like a blend of crushed fruit jolly ranchers and bitter hops, in a punch bowl, a pepper punch bowl. One day my reviews will make sense in their analogies. Honestly, just ya know, not today.
I mentioned pepper as the beer is just slightly peppery, an odd contrast to the fruit for the rest of the experience. Overall the hop feels like one that would be a great late boil to dry hop addition. It has a great aroma and great fruit characteristics. The beer itself? Well as a hop demonstration the thinner malt body works well, as a beer in itself it could do with just a touch more grip I feel. Therefore how well the beer works really depends on which of the two elements you find more important.
Anyway, this is basically jolly ranchers the beer, and thinner body or not, that is cool.
Background: So, we have the New Zealand entry into this years single hop IPA range. I do love a good NZ hop, they just feels so fresh and bright. This was drunk while listening to a good chunk of the * meets metal series of youtube. Because they are metal. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers. This is..erm I think day 5 of IPA WEEK!
