LOL wut?

When I reviewed the three lagers from Poland's staunchly traditionalist Łomża a couple of years ago I did not have the brewery pegged as a bandwagon jumper. But then I was out beer shopping and spotted this limited edition Łomża IPA and had to give it a go.

I consider the bandwagon well and truly jumped, however, because this is very much IPA in the Polish fashion. It's a deep and handsome bronze colour, a full 6% ABV, and goes all out for the resins. Strangely it's not bitter, however: there's a strong perfumey flavour with spicy jasmine and honeysuckle. The acidity of the hops is reduced to a small pinch at the very end. Before that it's all but smothered under a huge blanket of malt weight. Brown sugar, golden syrup, treacle cake and sticky toffee pudding: post-war austerity treats for all the family. The texture is extremely dense, and drinking a glass is like pulling on a doppelbock. I suspect the connection goes deeper than that as, despite all the sweetness, it's remarkably clean and the flavours separately defined. If it's not actually bottom-fermented then it definitely bears the hallmark of brewers who are more comfortable working with lager.

I can't really recommend this as anything more than a novelty, but it's certainly quite a bit different to the other IPAs on the market.