Hans up

It was exciting to see a beer from Hanscraft landing in Ireland. The client brewer left a lasting impression from my last visit to Germany in 2014, for his Backbone Splitter IPA in particular. This one is a collaboration, of course, with Stone's satellite brewery in Berlin.

Quince-Essential is the name, a New England IPA with added quince, and including the inevitable childish snub to the Reinheitsgebot in the label copy. It looks New Englandy, an opaque orange colour. The aroma is vaguely fruity with nothing specific jumping out. It's 6.3% ABV and there's a heat which comes with that. Behind this it's fruity, all orange and lime cordial. My experience of quince doesn't go beyond jelly with cheese, but I don't think I can taste any of it here.

This fits the bill of a thick and juicy NEIPA. It doesn't do anything very interesting within the style, however, and certainly doesn't justify the sizeable price tag. I can't really complain, however: this beer is fine. Hans does better, though.