On the 'lash

Two recent releases from Whiplash today, both in the pale 'n' murky 'n' hoppy vernacular that their adoring public adores.

The first one is a modest pale ale called Safe Changes, just 5% ABV and using Ekuanot, Idaho 7 and Azacca. It's every bit as fruity as that combination implies, opening with mango and guava, turning to sterner lime and grapefruit in the finish and passing through floral jasmine and honeysuckle on the way. The oats give it a very thick mouthfeel, meaning the powerful hop flavours run the risk of turning it cloying and busy. It doesn't quite go that far, though, staying on the drinkable side of punchy. This isn't the sort of thing I usually like, and it took me a while to figure why. I think it's the lack of interference from the murk: no grittiness, dregginess or savoury downers, and no vanilla or garlic either. It's a lesson in getting haze right.

There had to be a double IPA, of course: Telephone Line is Whiplash's eleventy-fifth version of same. Yellow and opaque is par for the course, with an outlier ABV of 8.1%. The flavour starts off sweet: a stewed peach and pineapple effect with a little vanilla custard on top. For hop bitterness you need to wait for the finish but it is delivered eventually, balancing the picture in the end. Pleasingly, that balance remains in situ for the duration. Other examples of this style have a creeping garlic taste as they warm up, or turn distractingly savoury. This doesn't. Looking for flaws, there's a little more yeast bite than I would deem completely acceptable, and there's a sharp alcoholic kick, although the beer isn't hot or soupy. All-in, it's quite a decent example. No revelation, but at the same time I have low standards when it comes to murky double IPAs and am overjoyed when they're not actively unpleasant.

So here's Whiplash making the kind of beer we expect Whiplash to make. Seems fair.