Whipping back and forth

Brewing for a good cause seems to be all the rage these days. For their part, Dublin's Whiplash joined in Other Half's fund-raiser collaborative hazy IPA project All Together. The result is 6.5% ABV and a pale emulsion-yellow, the head fading quickly to nothing. Its aroma is enticingly fresh and juicy with lots of cantaloupe and tinned peaches. Low carbonation and an absence of booze heat make for easy drinking, and while the fruit is still prominent, especially in the finish, there's a twang of garlic oil too. All of it works harmoniously. The only downside is a slight dreggy grittiness which spoils the party a little, though there's still enough good stuff going on to counter it. It's a very decent creation, up with the best of what Whiplash does in this genre, and that it's for charity is no harm either. Look out for my review of Garage's take on it soon.

The brewery made waves and won awards with their micro IPA Northern Lights. It's a tough act to follow, but here's Sandstorm, at the same strength of 2.8% ABV. It smells juicy and refreshing, and clean, for all the hazy orange appearance. The flavour is similarly crisp and precise. I get mandarin, vanilla and nectarine -- a boarding-school dessert, sweet but not cloying. Of the compromised ABV there is no sign. It's properly full-bodied and full-flavoured, so the clever trick they pulled with Northern Lights is pulled again here, beautifully. There's a bit more fizz than one might expect for something hazy and dense, but that just helps make it refreshing without denting the complexity. This is great tack, and I hope it gets similar praise to what Northern Lights so deservedly got.

Whiplash is as Whiplash does, so of course there's a hazy double IPA in this set. Plausible Deniability is a collaboration with Garage and 8.2% ABV. It's proper custard-looking, the murk settling to the bottom of the can and ejecting itself into the glass while I wasn't looking. The aroma is quite dreggy, with a little peach and pineapple and a lot of earthy grit. Dregs don't feature in the flavour. Instead it's a concentrated stonefruit cordial: peach nectar and bright pink tropical juice mix. There's a dry chalky finish after this and lots of dizzying alcohol vapours. It doesn't quite work for me, being too hot and cloying. A fans-only job, I think, not that Whiplash is short of fans.

The murk-peddlars of Cherry Orchard very much reverting to type here. Two superb offerings out of three is an acceptable hit rate.