Something a little different here from De Molen. It is not that often we get to include a triple IPA – it isn’t a style that is made frequently by our brewery partners. It was too tempting to order some of this when I saw it available.
As you may have picked up from the name, this beer has yuzu as in ingredient. I’ve tried a few IPAs that include yuzu and it seems to suit the style well. It is an Asian citrus fruit, probably somewhere in taste between grapefruit and mandarin.
But until reading the beer description I didn’t even know kuzu was an ingredient. Apparently kuzu is an Asian root vegetable, used as a thickening agent. It is also commonly used in Japanese tea for its medicinal qualities.
Our beer pours like a normal glowing IPA, and the aroma is full of citrus fruit. Heavy on the yuzu, but no real contribution from the kuzu here.
Sweetness from the big malt body combines with fruit sweetness makes for a pleasant start. But it doesn’t take long for the yuzu to kick in. There is a definite citrus character to this beer, both from the yuzu and the hops. The yuzu gives that slightly sharp but still pleasant edge, slightly herbal even, and this comes out a little more as you work into the beer. The mouthfeel is quite full, and we’ll attribute a little of this to the kuzu making it creamier than it otherwise would be.
It is hard to hide the alcohol in these high ABV light coloured beers, De Molen do a great job of this. There is a warmth from the alcohol but there really isn’t any burn and the beer finishes full with a very pleasant citrus bitterness.