Bitter in Bluebell

I have four different brands out of Third Barrel for you today, instead of the usual three. Eight beers and a whole heap of hops.

By Third Barrel for Two Sides is Think Hoppy Thoughts, a Citra pale ale of a modest 4.3% ABV. Nothing modest about the aroma, mind: I got a jet of zest and dank up the nostrils as soon as I pulled the tab. This was almost two months in the can when I opened it but still smelled banging fresh. It's yellow and soupy-looking in the glass, and though there are oats in the grist, the body is as light as you might expect given the strength. I'd say there's some New Englanding going on here, for although the mouthfeel isn't fluffy, the flavour is sweet from the get-go: not what I expect when Citra gets top billing. It's a kind of lemon-curd sugar and zest, with a little savoury spring onion on the finish. This is assertive without being intrusive, and very much designed for session drinking. It makes me hanker after easy-going conversation pints in the pub. Some day...

A double IPA that might just work in the same context is Why Can't IBU, it being a mere 7.5% ABV. It's a very fuzzy murky yellow shade and is another one with a busy aroma, this time pineapple and apricot. Despite the modest strength there's a sizeable alcohol kick; an actual burn on the palate. The flavour stays distinct around this: mandarin, peach and mango. And of course it has that big a fluffy New England texture and a mild pinch of sweetening vanilla. Overall it's a better sort of hazeboi, avoiding the usual wrong turns, punchy but accessible. Yes, I would take a pint.

Third Circle, next, brings us a session IPA called Technicolors, promising tropicality with its Enigma and Bravo hops. The aroma is quite sweet, suggesting fruit candy more than actual fruit. I didn't get a whole lot of either in the flavour; maybe a little candy in the finish, but up front it's all bitterness: hard, concentrated citrus and a slick piney resin. It's one of those supposedly session IPAs where it isn't the strength (it's only 4.1% ABV) but the slightly harsh hopping which might prevent you from opening a second and subsequent can. Fans of the west-coast vernacular may appreciate it. Although it's not clear, it is clean and the hop flavours are very distinct. I enjoyed the robust hopping but was ready to move on to something else by the end.

More recently, Third Circle released India Inked black lager, a beer style not normally known for its high hops. This one puts them front and centre in the description, specifically the New Zealand variety Pacifica. It's a little on the thick side for a lager, with a creamy porter-like mouthfeel. I assume the 5% ABV has something to do with that. It definitely wouldn't pass as a schwarzbier, though no such claim is made. The aroma is a mix of sweet roast with a leafy greenness, which is very pleasant. Those hops get properly busy in the flavour, leading on gooseberry, kiwifruit and oily avocado. What bitterness there is is provided by the dark roasted grain, though it brings a smooth layer of milk chocolate as well. The finish is fresh and floral: lavender and rosewater. It's a gorgeous combination, complex without seeming busy. It may not be in typical black lager style but I'd still like to see lots more beers like this.

The "something else" after Technicolors was The Juice by Stone Barrel, whose name leaves one in no doubt what to expect. In the glass it's a very pale yellow colour, with almost a greenish tint. The head is loose and short-lived. Creamy vanilla jumps out of the aroma immediately, though doesn't go on to dominate the flavour. That begins with a dry mix of chalk and celery, leading on to the promised juice: a mouthwatering mandarin and mango middle. Sweetness builds to eventually bring us to vanilla in the finish, but none of it lasts very long. There's an almost watery feel, and while I prefer that to a hot cloying  mess, it's a bit disappointing for an IPA at 6% ABV. This is accessible, non-extreme, but not very exciting either. Anyone already bored of the haze craze would do well to steer clear as it doesn't do anything interesting with the format.

Then arriving at the same time as the double IPA from Two Sides reviewed above was Stone Barrel's Shout!, also 7.5% ABV and also an opaque shade of yellow. The hops are listed for us this time: Mosaic, Citra and Sabro. It's bitterer than the other, helped in no small part by the unmistakable Sabro element, adding a pithiness in contrast to the New England rounded feel. The aroma is an unspecified zest, and while the flavour has plenty of that, there's a sweeter side too: fruit candy like Skittles make an appearance and lighten the mood. The bittering gives this more of a west-coast feel than many a contemporary "DDH DIPA" though it still plays for team haze: don't expect anything too clean and sharp. For my part, I thought it was fine, but it lacks poke: given the name and the style, I was expecting something less meek and balanced. Not a complaint I make very often.

And so we come to Third Barrel, and let's start dark with Painted Black, a (hooray!) black IPA of (hooray!) 7% ABV. It was a bit of a fuss to pour, with lots of foam piling up in the glass. Black IPA, before it became a retro novelty, got a lot of stick for not being a real or proper style. A big part of why I disagree with that is the uniquely BIPA cabbage character the good ones have. This has it in spades, right from the aroma: spicy, tarry, vegetal. That follows straight through to the flavour: a long-lasting acidic veg kick, but also big on roast, but also bursting with citrus. It's beautiful and, crucially, unique to this style. Though it might be a tiny bit on the brown side, this is a black IPA's black IPA, delivering exactly what's it's supposed to. The strength gives the body a roundness that helps carry the wallop from its hops and dark malt. Sip, enjoy, and rage that every brewery doesn't have a black IPA of this calibre in its core line-up.

We top out on a Third Barrel double IPA on, presumably, a pandemic theme, called This Isn't Forever. No half measures with the haze here: it looks like 440mls of beaten egg. No half measures with the hops either: Citra and Vic Secret bring the noise. The latter makes it smell of aniseed, but both of them make it bitter. I thought Technicolors laid that on strong but this is several levels up. I guess the 8% ABV lends it extra scope. The result is a hard beeswax and bitumen opener, relenting only slightly to let lime rind and ripe green spinach come through. The only nod to your usual haze is the fluffy texture, which sort-of offsets the harshness a little, in a weird way. As with the companion session IPA, I had a soft spot for the uncompromising punchiness, but by the end I was done with IPA for a while.

I doubt Third Barrel is, however.