The browns and the blues

It's a new set of Whiplash cans today, all be it slightly fewer than the last tranche, and some smaller cans too.

Loud Places is a pale ale, presented in the typical hazy Whiplash fashion. With that comes the typical Whiplash cleanness and the typical Whiplash juice: it goes big on the soft and mouthwatering mandarin and satsuma first, tempering it with a slightly hard lemon citrus later on, for an extremely thirst-quenching Rock Shandy effect. The aroma more or less matches that, perhaps suggesting a little more bitterness than is actually delivered, but you know what you're getting. I would ding it a little on the texture: though it's light-bodied and extremely easy to drink, it's a full 5% ABV. I expect something a little more rounded at the strength, or for such a lightweight to be appropriately lower in alcohol. It's hard to be too critical of this one, though: an unfussy and perfectly tasty pale ale.

Its fraternal twin, or possibly arch-nemesis, is also 5% ABV but otherwise quite different. The label describes Quiet Crowd as a "robust brown [ale]" and boy is it robust. No sneaky thinness here. The hefty, thick, creamy body carries an almost harsh coffee bitterness, one which takes a few sips to adjust to. At that point the complexities emerge, including summer fruit, melty milk chocolate and gooey caramel. A scorching burnt dry roast arrives in the finish, lest you begin taking it for a softie. This is no easy drinker but it's just as much fun as the one above; possibly even more so as brown ales aren't as commonplace as hazy pale ales, despite something of a recent resurgence. Of course, Whiplash has played a big part in that resurgence, and they're not done yet.

I had to go out for the next small can: Chimes, brewed for the Bunsen burger chain and only available in their restaurants. The official description is that it's a "lime zest pale ale" and it's 5% ABV. Served to me cold in a chilled glass it tasted of very little at first and I had to wait for it to warm up and present itself properly. It was worth waiting for. First off, there's a pleasingly full and soft fluffy texture, more like a wheat beer than a pale ale. I didn't get much by way of hop, but the lime plays things interestingly, bringing a spicy and spritzy quality, all bergamot and lavender: much more complex than simply a base beer dosed with syrup. There's a tighter zest in the finish for anyone who thinks a lime beer should taste of actual limes. I liked the rounded fullness of it, making this great for matching with food. It has been thought through, well designed and executed: streets ahead of the usual approach of slapping the restaurant's name on whatever a nearby brewery makes cheaply and isn't too precious about.

Today's third pale ale is called Got To Keep On and is a smidge stronger than the others at 5.3% ABV. The can didn't need to tell me there were oats in the grist: it's very apparent from the appearance, a dull beige emulsion. The hops are an intriguing combination of Vic Secret, Azacca and El Dorado, the latter two giving it that fruit-chew candy sweetness they tend to remind me of. There's a bitterness behind this which is in part the herbal side of Vic Secret, but there's a nastier murky grit element too, something that Whiplash usually manages to avoid, despite turning out endless varieties of very hazy beer. The payoff is a lovely smooth creamy texture which almost makes it worthwhile. Half way down I realised I had no more to say about this one. There are no hidden underlying complexities and the flavour doesn't evolve as it goes. It's simple and drinkable, doing the basics for a pale ale quite well, but not as good as Loud Places above.

Moving, on, seeming like a leftover from the big drop of German-style beers late last year, next it's Melted, a roggenbier, so centred on rye malt and hopped with Magnum and Hersbrucker. As one might expect from a rye beer, it's a dark orange-amber in colour, looking stronger and denser than 5.4% ABV. There's Vienna malt in the mix as well, and that comes through strongly on the aroma: lots of biscuit, at the expense of any rye or hop bitterness. It doesn't get much bitterer on tasting, the rye is restrained -- a little bit grassy and very slightly peppery -- and I couldn't detect anything much from the hops. At this point I checked the yeast variety listed and discovered that it is a lager, which makes total sense. Despite quite a busy mix of ingredients, this is a lager first and foremost: immaculate in the cleanness of its flavour, approachable and refreshing, with the rye serving to add a pinch of additional character, not dominate the whole picture. Malted barley reigns supreme here: smooth and a little bit caramelised, but not fully sweet. I came to it expecting something challenging and busy, so was very pleasantly surprised to be given a beer to relax into, one which makes few demands on the drinker while also being far from boring.

Released at the same time as Got To Keep On was a double IPA named Temporary Pleasure and it's a similarly extreme sort of beige colour. Vic Secret and Azacca return too, joined by BRU-1, and oats, of course. But while that was innocent and easy going, this is a hot beast of a thing, laying on the alcohol alongside that grit again and a low level of sweetly tropical fruit, almost an afterthought. It's difficult drinking, even at 8% ABV. This is not how Whiplash normally makes double IPAs. It's how a lot of breweries make them, but not Whiplash. With the heat and grit, all that's missing is the garlic for a clear run of wrong. Fingers crossed this is just a temporary phase.

Presenting, penultimately, Smoke Stack Lightnin', a biiig brown ale of 8.5% ABV with smoked malt and barrel aged. Compared to Quiet Crowd they've gone big with the can too, upgrading to 440ml. It's on the red side of brown -- ruby coloured when held to the light -- and is topped by a thick cream-coloured head. The aroma is a strange mix of coffee, caramel and ham. Strange, but not unpleasant. That ham effect is the first part of the flavour to hit the palate, and also the part which lingers longest in the finish. In the middle, just like with the aroma, there's sweet and chewy caramel and rich oily coffee. Despite the strength, a considerable density, and the full-on flavours, it's clean and surprisingly drinkable, with no heat or esters to disturb the experience. It made for a highly satisfying nightcap: better than any mug of cocoa.

There's a triple IPA to bring us home: Sound of Silver, with Strata, Azacca and Sultana which should be quite a fruity proposition. It's hella murky, and eggy yellow with visible gritty silt in the glass. The aroma is lightly tropical and there's no sign of the looming 11% ABV. It is indeed very clean and quite warming, with a softly comforting texture and tropical cordial flavours. No grit, and no especially strong heat. At the same time, the hops are a bit of a mush, all smudged in together with nothing in particular standing out. I get that's it's very much going for the New England thing, but a bit of a bitter edge would be a big improvement. As is, this doesn't really deliver the excitement that "triple IPA" ought to elicit. It's too calm and too balanced. Make extreme beer extreme again.

While I'm all in favour of style diversity and hope Whiplash continues to keep things original and interesting, I would not at all mind a few more in the brown ale genre if the quality is as good as this latest pair.