Whip smart

Start your week with Whiplash. I have four from the Ballyfermot murk pedlars today, but before we go all hazy IPA, a hazy farmhouse thingy: Never Cursed, a grisette of 4.1% ABV. Despite its failure to be an IPA it keeps up appearances, being a completely opaque yellow. The farmy funk gets busy right from the aroma: overripe fruit and horsey manure, concentrated to the point of burnt rubber. This was not going to be a refreshing easy ride, but I was thirsty. Two big pulls sluiced the fizz across my parched tongue, cheering it up immensely. What came in the aftermath was a little bit apricot, a sprinkling of paprika and the echo of that rubber, the latter fading after the first few mouthfuls to allow the stonefruit take centre stage. A burst of vanilla sweetness provides the finishing flourish. For a light and sessiony beer this is full-flavoured and a little busy. If you're in the mood for some considered funk and spice, it's well worth taking time over.

To the haze, then, and our first is called Horse Power -- light by Whiplash standards at 6.8% ABV but plenty dense and an intense yellow, to the point of green, colour. The hops are Citra, Idaho-7 and BRU-1, leaving me no idea what to expect. Turns out it's all fairly standard: a combination of garlic oil and sweet vanilla. There's a significant alcohol burn but it's otherwise clean, and that's its saving grace. It doesn't take long for one to become accustomed to the flavour, and with no gritty dregs getting in the way it's easy to enjoy too. Solid, middle-of-the-road stuff here, free of daftness or silly mistakes. Whiplash very occasionally adds new beers to its core range, and this is a candidate, or to be bumped to the front of the re-brew queue.

Some time later they put out another at the same strength, this time with Ekuanot, Galaxy and Strata. It's called Water Jump and cheekily took an age to pour because of all the foam, which then faded to nothing before I got to take a sip. Worst of both worlds, headwise. The body is opaque yellow again and the aroma concentrated and sweet, reminding me mostly of the orange jelly inside Jaffa Cakes, though there's a spritz of real satsuma as well. Once again we get a clean flavour, but no garlic or vanilla, just that smooth, juicy orangey goodness. The balance of bitter and sweet is spot on, with both contributing but neither dominant. Even half way down, with warmth starting to creep in, this still tasted of pure fresh-squeezed orange juice, with maybe just a mild kick of alcohol. More a Screwdriver than a Supersplit, but delicious either way.

This lot tops out on a double IPA called Haunt, brewed with Ekuanot and Strata. Standard murky orange, standard orange-and-vanilla ice lolly aroma. The flavour is a concentrated orange cordial thing, the sweetness cut with marmalade shred pieces. It's seasoned with a red peppercorn spice, adding a different kind of sweetness, but it's still very sweet. The 8.2% ABV has a lot to do with the concentrated cordial effect and I don't think it uses that extra heft to give us anything especially different -- booze for the sake of booze. It's fine but very samey. Fans of strong hoppy murk will doubtless be all-in but it's not my kind of thing really.

The West Coast revival has yet to hit Whiplash and in the meantime they're having fun with different hop combinations. The results keep on pleasing the haze maniacs, and even old cynics like me enjoy the occasional one or two. Maybe the West Coast can wait.