Letting Whip

It's a neat little stash of Whiplash beers for clearance today.

A lager starts us off. Dawn Chorus is a Helles in the Munich style with Munich malt. The appearance is nearly perfect: a lovely rich golden with not a hint of haze about it, though the head isn't as tight as I'd like, fading a little quickly. The noble hops peep out in the aroma, bringing sweet leafy greens: spearmint and cress. Sweetness is a theme in the flavour too, where the herbs meet a light spongecake malt. Maybe a little too light, said he, looking for faults. It's 5.1% ABV but lacks heft; its easy-drinking texture aided by a low level of carbonation. That means it runs the risk of turning dull but avoids it with a fun finish where the sweetness concentrates into honey, seasoned with a peppery spice. Yum. Stylistically it's absolutely bang on: I can visualise downing litres of this in a Munich beer garden, and the smoothness is Augustiner-grade. It's still just a Helles though. It's the ultimate non-novelty style and one I don't have to pay almost a fiver for a good example. So a round of applause for the technical accomplishment but there's no need to make this a regular at this price point.

"Nelson forward" is a lovely way for a brewery to describe a beer so I was very much looking forward to cracking Close To Paradise, a 6.3% ABV New England IPA. And crack it I did. What came out was one of those super pale hazy IPAs, the unattractive opaque yellow of watery custard. Pith and diesel is the aroma; a bit weird but acceptably Nelsonish. Whiplash normally avoids the gritty, chalky effect in its IPA but I got some from this, which isn't good. That stands in the way of any fresh hop bang. The liquid fuel thing hangs around, as does the pith, but it doesn't have much else to say. No jarring off-flavours, which is a bonus, but I feel the Nelson needs a cleaner base to make the most of it. This combination didn't work for me.

The next combination is Cascade, Mosaic and Idaho 7, which all seems very reasonable. Walk The Night is another IPA, this one 6.6% ABV. Pale and hazy? But of course. There's a lovely sweet juiciness to the aroma but a less pleasant dry and gritty bite too. Thankfully that doesn't leak into either the flavour or the texture. It's smooth and creamy in a typical New England way, but it's not sweet. A mere pinch of vanilla in the foretaste is swiftly squashed by a citrus-rind bitterness, suggesting Cascade has the upper hand in this, and I don't have a problem with that. There's a softer peach-and-apricot element as well, and a substantial alcohol heat which helps put the brakes on quaffing it. It's good though: enough fuzz and freshness for the hazy crazies but with a nice old-school IPA element from the Cascade. Balance, I guess.

At the same strength but with Sultana and Amarillo is A Distance in You. This smells pithy and bitter which had me scrambling for information on Sultana's pedigree. Turns out it's a descendent of the classic American bittering hop Nugget, so that makes sense. There's a heavy texture here, and drinking involved dragging it out of the glass. Pith again, on a gritty, chalky base, for quite a rough and unfriendly approach. The finish is a little gentler, giving soft and oily orange skin and weedy resins. I'm no brewer, but I felt that this punchy bitter combination would have worked better in a clean and clear west coast IPA rather than a softie like this. Or maybe it's just not to my taste, but it's not to my taste.

I missed Space Operator on its first outing but the Whiplash gods are merciful and it came around again. It's an all-Idaho 7 IPA at 6.8% ABV and, oh look, an opaque yellow colour. The aroma is fresh and zesty with a very real mandarin peel vibe. That certain citric sharpness is the centrepiece of the flavour -- starting sweet, finishing bitter but all done indecently quickly. You get your squirt of zest, a flash of meringue and a tang of lime, and then you're finished in jig time. It's tasty but not very complex. I don't think I got value for the strength. Whiplash's expertise in the hazy IPA genre means I'm very forgiving when there are no jarring dodgy bits, but maybe I should be a little more critical. This is fine, far from unpleasant, but not very exciting. €5.50 and 6.8% ABV should entitle me to some excitement.

Time was, it seemed like 8% ABV double IPAs were all that Whiplash turned out. Things have become more varied since, but they're back on familiar ground with Doom City, one brewed with Vic Secret and Motueka, neither of them happy, easy-going hops. I wasn't too happy either with the waves of white plaster dust cascading down the inside of my glass as I poured. This is hazy to begin with, plus extra haze secreted at the bottom of the can. It settled to a pale lemon yellow topped by a fluffy but short-lived head. Vic Secret's trademark aniseed is there in the aroma while the foretaste is a strangely crisp, almost lagery, grassy quality, set on a smooth white-bread base. A murky double IPA that tastes like a Helles is weird, but fun. A citric sweetness arrives late, like a bitter-lemon mixer. Those looking for a big DIPA hop blast may be disappointed but I like the mature subtlety of this. It's also interesting how a beer can pour looking like utter filth but still taste perfectly clean. Haze is a strange country.

Finally, a triple IPA which has to tell you It's No Spirit. Well it doesn't look like one, pouring a mucky yellow with once more a dismaying amount of clumpy gunk transferring from can to glass. Still it smells clean, with freshly tropical Amarillo meeting juicily grapeish Nelson Sauvin. The texture is New-England thick; not cloying but smooth and gently fuzzy. 10.5% ABV is deftly concealed; there's no palate burn up front nor warming afterglow typical of hazy TIPAs at this strength. I suspect the hops might have something to do with that. As in the aroma, their flavours are clean and distinct. I get aniseed, mango, pineapple and gooseberry, finishing on sweet sultanas and desiccated coconut. Exploiting that got me through the 440ml at speed, with no time for relaxed sipping, which is what it deserves. I've never before met a super-strong IPA that made we want to crack a second can immediately afterwards, but that's another first for Whiplash.

Some absolute gold in this lot, but a couple of instances of chalky grit making itself felt amongst the haze. I hope that doesn't become a habit.