This beer is the newest release from Brasserie Lupulus, and it’s a very different beer style to what we might expect from this brewery. Knowing the founder was one of the co-founders for Brasserie Achouffe, I think more traditional Belgian styles, but this is anything but!
The beer is an hazy IPA, fermented with Kveik yeast. If you’re not familiar with this term, it is the Norwegian word for yeast. Traditionally the yeast was used by Norwegian farmhouse breweries, and passed on from generation to generation. Now it is commercially cultured, it is a blend of many different yeast strains. It is a very hardy yeast, capable of performing at much higher temperatures than most yeasts, and also happily fermenting much high alcohol levels that might cause other yeast strains to suffer.
The ingredients list for this beer include barley and oats, sugar and three different hops in Idaho7, Citra and Mosaic. It makes for a lovely tropical fruity aroma, that also follows through in the flavour.
The Kveik yeast really dries this beer out, and there is a reasonably bitter finish despite all that initial fruitiness. There is also something else in the aftertaste that I can’t really describe, but lets say woody. Leathery or slightly smoky as back-ups. Either way, I like it!