Another beer from our new Spanish brewery, La Calavera. Not really what they are known for – they are much more about the barrel aged, fruited and Brettanomyces beers, but I’m happy to have this IPA in the beer packs.
I enjoyed having a properly bitter beer, it makes a nice change from all the oat cream, lactose, low (no) bitterness hazies that seem to dominate lately. There’s nothing wrong with that style of beer in its own right, I’ve just been missing the old style West Coast IPA bitterness.
And this beer has it. Styled as an American IPA, it pretty much delivers on the promise.
The aroma is actually quite subdued, with some sweet malt and very general fruity notes. If pressed I’d probably best describe it as lemon rind. The flavour is of bready malt with some stone fruits. Not really lemon to be fair, maybe a hint of tart grapefruit and dried apricots.
The bitterness grips the side of your tongue, filling your cheeks as the beer disappears. But that lovely bitterness lingers long in the aftertaste, with just a little warming alcohol feel to finish.
Bevog's core range IPA is a really nice balance between fruity and floral hops and the solid malt body
An old-school triple dry-hopped IPA, with a solid malt body and a Belgian yeast
De Molen's annual spring time release is 'Day & Dew' - an IPA featuring a bevy of US hops and bergamot fruit
De Molen's first take on the currently trending north-east IPA
One of De Molen's Bereft Festival 2017 beers, this is a smoked Earl Grey IPA - heavy on the smoke and tea, light on the IPA!
This is a fun IPA from De Molen with extracts of vanilla, chocolate and orange
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A beer sitting between a pale ale and an IPA, celebrating 50 years of Maris Otter malt
An old-school IPA, the gift of De Molen's brew team to John Brus for his recent marriage to partner Petra
A west coast IPA from one of California's early microbreweries
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
20% rye, 10% smoked malt with Simcoe and Cascade hops
A clean, crisp and sessional IPA from the team at Troubadour
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An English-style IPA from the third generation Martin's family brewery
An IPA featuring a bevy of different hops, with a big caramel malt body
An IPA from Kees, finished with a French saison yeast for an interesting mix of beer styles
Kees' version of a NEIPA - or at least a hazy IPA - full of Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops
Pineapple, coriander and szechuan peppers plus a little lactose make for an intriguing milkshake IPA
As the label suggest, this is an IPA brewed using all French ingredients
Described as an International IPA, this beer is full of mango and citrus
An IPA which mixes the influences of both the Anglo-Saxon and US versions of this style
Our first beer from Poland's Maltgarden brewery is this DDH Hazy IPA
A super-tasty hazy IPA featuring Enigma and experimental hop HBC 630
by Browar Pinta
Pinta's first ever beer was this American style IPA named 'Hops Attack'
A deliciously fruity and aromatic IPA featuring Centennial, Chinook and Columbus hops
The classic West Coast IPA from Sierra Nevada
Uiltje's flagship IPA is a superbly balanced combination of a solid malt base and loads of American hops
A variation of the original Bird of Prey with the addition of grapefruit
An old-school IPA featuring Willamette, EKG, Columbus and Centennial hops
An imperial pastry stout with vanilla, toffee and dry dates
