Hazeville

"Welcome to Kilcoole, the hazy IPA capital of Ireland" a sign outside the Co. Wicklow town may as well say. Both of its breweries have been elbow-deep in the hop sack and pumping hard at the haze machine lately, continuing to do that thing they do.

ITV's best coin-pusher-based quiz show lends its name to O Brother's new IPA, Tipping Point. Meridian and Strata are the hops and the hazy yellow shade is de rigueur and comme il faut. Both aroma and flavour are very savoury: the dry husky bite of sesame seed. I looked for some sense of fruit behind this but none was forthcoming; the only other feature on offer an oily resinous quality that's interesting but does nothing for the balance. It feels juicy: satisfyingly big and fluffy with just a gentle sparkle, and that's almost compensation. And while I didn't much like the taste, it finishes quickly leaving the mouthfeel to enjoy. I came out of it thinking things could have been worse, but as regards savoury hop flavours, this is beyond my personal tipping point.

Hot on its heels was a double IPA with the ominous name Freedoom. Well, nobody likes paying for doom. 8.4% ABV and hopped with Azacca and Mosaic, so I was hoping for a fruitier experience than previously. It certainly smells fruity, that hot and concentrated sense of orange cordial, but one of the better, realer, sorts. The flavour is calmer, hiding the heat well. There's a fun satsuma spritz before a sweet orange-flavoured chew sweet middle. The finish is also sweet, though more juice than cordial, which is pleasant. Although the texture is thick and the appearance opaque, this isn't really New England style: there's no vanilla or garlic, and only the faintest raw grit. It's figuratively refreshing to find a double IPA this clean, even if the beer itself isn't refreshing and isn't meant to be. Warming, fruity, and just bitter enough, this hits the double IPA style points well; a calm and reasonable take on what we used to call "extreme beer".

Meanwhile, across town, Larkin's has been continuing its single hop IPA series with Idaho 7. These have all been magnificent so far and I wished fervently for that to continue, even with a hop that's less of a superstar than Citra, Mosaic and Strata. It's a fairly dark shade -- more orange than yellow -- though at least it's hazy, meaning I don't have to go back and re-write my opening paragraph. There's juice on the nose: tangerine and maybe something a little more exotic like mango or pineapple. The flavour is quite plain, offering a gentle orange-oil followed by a streak of green resin. That leaves a bitter vegetal aftertaste. This is OK, but not the sensation that the previous three in the sequence were. Still, I'm grateful for the learning experience. Idaho 7, it seems, shouldn't be allowed out on its own.

For all that they have in common, stylistically and geographically, these are three quite different beers. Worth bearing in mind the next time someone throws a haze generalisation your way.