Brewdog: Vote Sepp (Scotland: Belgian Wit: 3.4% ABV)
Visual: Rose wine coloured, low carbonation. Clear white half inch of tight bubbles for a head. Leaves sud rings.
Nose: Perfume. Light wheat and bitterness.
Body: Bitter. Sesame seeds. Perfume. Musty. Sour dough. Wheat. Light sweetness at back. Barley. Some very subtle strawberry and vanilla after drinking for a while.
Finish: perfume. Somewhat musty. Dry. seeds.
Conclusion: The new Hibiscus Wit, is it much different from the old Juniper Wit? Unfortunately no, it is pretty much in the same ballpark quality wise. It smells and tastes quite perfumed (that is the taste you can get in your mouth when smelling perfume, not when you drink a bottle) mixed in with a certain sour dough element. There is a taste like chewing on rose petals that lasts far too long into the finish. There is a wit base, but it is very hard to tell from the flavours you get, it is nigh unrecognisable as that style.
It is too cloying to be refreshing, and the flavours set in too long to be sessionable, the taste range is small and unappealing. There is a light barley sweetness, which is about the only element I don’t dislike in this.
I wasn’t a fan of Juniper Wheat, and this really hasn’t changed enough from that to appeal to me at all (Now I will probably find out the recipes are completely different or something – my point on the unimpressive flavor still stands). I am actually surprised that this went from being a small keg tester release to being actually bottled.
So no, not impressed with this one at all.
Background: So, Brewdog are poking fun at the blatant corruption of FIFA. Good. I mean I’m hardly a footy fan, but seriously, FIFA are so obvious Captain Planet level early morning cartoonishly corrupt it takes the piss. Speaking of FIFA and taking the piss, check out John Oliver on FIFA, it is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Anyway this is a hibiscus wit beer, originally it was going to be called “Hibiscus Wit” (Shockingly) and be keg only, but a quick FIFA piss take later it is now also out in bottles. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers. Note: The rose color doesn’t seem to have come across in the photo, I swear that is what it looked like in the bar!
