Voodoo strangers

Through the latter half of last year I found myself accumulating an array of beers from New Belgium and then omitting to actually drink them. When the multiple Voodoo Ranger variants arrived, this began looking more like a challenge than a leisure activity. It was only towards the end of the Christmas break, with stocks running down in the beer fridge, that I eventually began tackling them.

First up, a Sour IPA. I was intrigued by the method here: rather than simply souring an IPA mash, this is a blend of finished IPA with a "wood-aged golden sour ale". It doesn't say if that was a mixed-fermentation creation, but it's New Belgium so let's guess it was. It's a hazy dark orange in the glass, with a floral and tangy aroma. I wonder if I've left it sitting too long to get the benefit of the hops. There is a decent amount of hop flavour left, however: a floral orange-blossom effect, turned sweet by a surprisingly heavy malt base. 7% ABV is a lot for these, which tend to work best when light and refreshing. This is more of a chewer, and the sourness level reflects that too. Its dominant feature is quite a punchy lactic tartness, landing right from the first sip and only subsiding when the sticky malt sweetness takes over. This isn't what I was expecting, and different from most any take on sour IPA that I've tried, but it's well made and has its place; perhaps more as a digestif than aperitif.

And with that, bring on the Rangers! Four of them, starting back in time with Voodoo Ranger 1985. It's 6.7% ABV and hazy, like IPAs in 1985 weren't, and my heart sank a little when I read "mango flavor & spice" on the side of the can. It smells like a witbier, which is a perfectly acceptable use of spice in beer, I guess, and with that idea planted, I realised it looked like one too: pale yellow with a fine and fluffy froth on top. First impressions on tasting were, well, unimpressed. The spices are muted, and there's no IPA hop kick. The fluffy creamy texture is pleasant, but there's a gap where the foretaste should be. After a while, the mango emerges, sweet and syrupy, and then a trace of the Belgian herbs and spices: coriander, cardamom and ginger. But that's your lot. It's underwhelming as an IPA, as a gimmick, and as a beer. I will admit it was a couple of weeks past the best before, but if I've missed anything through neglect it must have been damn subtle in the first place. A big nope on 1985, then. What were they thinking?

"American Haze" is the codename on the next Ranger, this one a mere 5% ABV and lacking daft ingredients. It is hazy as promised, an opaque pale orange. I didn't get much of an aroma from it -- elderly can problems again? -- but what was there seemed quite savoury, and a little dreggy. With haze comes sweetness, and this tastes like orangeade, nicely zingy and refreshing; sweet but light with it. In contrast to that half-aroma, it's perfectly clean-tasting with no murky twangs. Any issues with freshness have not affected the flavour unduly because it's still absolutely vibrant. It's an accessible and fun number, unlikely to impress any Heady Topper fans, but none of them have much of a sense of fun anyway.

More haze please, but bigger! That lands me Higher Plane, an 8.5% ABV "hazy imperial IPA". It looks a little deeper-coloured in the glass, with an almost Tequila Sunrise effect: red at the base and bright orange towards the top. Again not much aroma, and this one is a couple of months fresher than the previous. There's a mineral dryness on the nose, but little else. The first sip brought booze, and lots of it. I got a sort of Duvel sense at the outset: that alcoholic grain-and-honey vibe. Fruity peach and apricot liqueur chase that, before a hot and slightly acrid bitterness escort it down the throat. It's a bit odd, and quite extreme, though not without charm. Overall, I found it a smidge too hot and sickly to be properly enjoyable. I'm beginning to think these Voodoo Rangers have little in common with each other, beyond their totemic can skeleton.

Last up, no haze, just Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA, presumably one of the earlier brand extensions. This one is the full 9% ABV and resembles American double IPAs when I first drank them: that perfect clear amber colour with a rich aroma, full of alcohol and citrus. That said it's surprisingly unbitter. In keeping with the style specs, there's lots of malt, and the hop side isn't quite strong enough to balance the sticky sugar from that. What you get instead is a gentle buzz of non-shred marmalade or orange jelly. It finishes quickly and unobtrusively, which I'm taking as a good thing. I doubt even 2008-me would be all that impressed with this. While inoffensive, it's lacking that loud American punch that made beers of this sort so exciting in the first place.

I didn't think I'd ever say it, but haze seems to be the way to go where IPA is concerned, at New Belgium anyway.