On the rebound

It has been a while since a new Sierra Nevada beer has impressed me. I suppose that's not something the brewers of Torpedo need worry about: I'll continue to be impressed by Torpedo for a long as they make it.

Auditioning today is Boomerang, an IPA brewed using -- yes, you're ahead of me -- Australian hops. It's a very pale chap, the perfectly clear light gold of many a nondescript eurolager. The aroma is quite lagery too, giving off a strong green nettle effect reminiscent of German hop culture, though there's a bittersweet cloudy lemonade character lurking cheekily under the surface.

There's nothing merely cheeky about the flavour though. In fact, it's downright impertinent. A blast of waxy bitterness leads the charge, and keeps running, lasting on the lips long after everything else has happened. "Everything else" is a combination of lime flesh, grapefruit pith, and a thin spread of sweeter mango and passionfruit. There's not much room for the malt to say anything in all that, but it does contribute to the body: a lovely smooth texture that makes what could be a very harsh beer surprisingly easy drinking.

Am I impressed by it? Yes, I think so. It's certainly not the sort of American IPA you meet every day. But I just have a minor niggle over the length of that bitterness. A little more of the tropical fruit and I'd have been singing its praises more.