Brewdog: こんにちは狐 (Konnichiwa Kitsune) (Scotland: IIPA: 8.2% ABV)
Visual: Deep yellowed gold. Thick yellowed bubbled head. No evident carbonation after initial pour.
Nose: Lychee. Moderate hops and bitterness. Grapes. Pineapple.
Body: Good bitterness and hops. Shortbread. Lychee. Sherbet. Slight fresh white crusty bread. Lemon cakes. grapefruit. Tart. Cake sponge.
Finish: Cake sponge. Bitter and hoppy. Fresh white bread. Lychee and grapes. Pineapple. Vanilla. Kinkan.
Conclusion: This is a very nice soft body, and yet a real full flavor beer. The feel in the mouth is just like melting cake sponge, it is just crumbling apart into bitter hop pieces. It is bitter, yes. Hoppy? yes. Despite that it still somehow feels gentle. The hops are super crisp, possibly due to how fresh the beer is, but the entire base just feels like the natural end point of honing the “Hello My Name Is” series.
The twist in this one? Well this has lovely fruitiness, tart and tangy, even slightly sour. Not knowing the fruit in question I would guess it comes somewhere between lychee and grapes – as that is what I get a lot of here – but I’ve seen how fruit can alter once added to a beer, so I wouldn’t like to bet on that. Anyway, this is very refreshing, tart but not painfully so, with a real thick feel to the flavour, you can feel fruit trails within the beer as it runs across your taste buds.
The hops feel like they are enhancing this, with, I would guess, the pineapple elements coming from the hops from the style of it – but all of it is more tart and citrus style. It is matched well, making it welcoming, but with an edge to it – it never succumbs to the easy sweetness to draw you in, but never punches hard enough to put off a newcomer.
It is a bittersour beer, which kicks bittersweet to the curb in my opinion. This balances everything just right, an excellent entry in the series.
Background: Sorry about the photo, this was done on the same day that my camera battery ran out so I had to used my phone. This is the latest in the “Hello My Name Is” series. If I was being picky I would say that would be something closer to “こんにちは. 私の名前は 狐です” However I have a feeling that I would be incorrect. I noticed in Japan that they tend to miss out words they don’t need, so it is entirely possibly they would just use こんにちは狐 as an equivalent – I know I have a few fine Japanese readers, anyone want to speak up in on the comments and confirm or deny? Thanks. Anyway, this is an Imperial IPA made with yuzu fruit, which I have never tried. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers.
