by Browar Pinta
Our second beer from new brewers Pinta is the Modern Drinking West Coast IPA. (Don’t worry, they do a lot more than just hoppy beers!)
It’s funny how the West Coast (USA) IPA style is now referred to as an ‘old school’ IPA. That is, beers brewed in this style were the original, and the style that really gave rise to the craft beer movement.
The West Coast IPA was really an assault on the senses at the time. Big on bitterness with those dank pine and citrus hop flavours, the best ones had a great malty body to carry all that bitterness.
The guys at Pinta have brewed a beer to the style of the old (US) IPA’s and have selected a classic US hop in Mosaic to feature. It is a hop variety that is used very effectively in single hop beers, and it allows the chance to really get to know the flavour of that hop in these situations.
The aroma isn’t huge, but it does have a very fruity and piney aroma. The malt base is very complimentary in the sense it isn’t too caramel and sweet, allowing the hop character to come through in the taste as well. And I found the bitterness to be a bit like using chilli – it kind of built up over a few sips to get to a level that was very enjoyable. Not quite up to the hop assault of some West Coast IPA’s but a very enjoyable beer.