It was still May when I drink Hope's
Maibock, just about: a lovely sunny evening at the end of the month. Good lager weather. This lager, the 29th beer in Hope's Limited Edition series, is a dense and dark amber colour, suggesting weight and richness fully in keeping with the 7.5% ABV. The aroma is what I would expect, even from a lighter beer in the same style. No sweetness, just dry grain and a rustic twang of hay. The gravity comes out much more on tasting, beginning with a very heavy malt-laden base, something like you'd get from a doppelbock or even weizenbock. That carries a shedload of flavour with it, the hay becoming wet grass or fermenting silage. The alcohol is very apparent, with a touch of headachey solvent or fusels enhancing the boozy effect. The coloured malt goes full biscuit, meanwhile, struggling to contain the bang of noble hops but just about managing it. This is no happy-go-lucky sunshine lager. It's an effort to sip through, and despite my usual distaste for noble hopping in quantity, I liked this: there's plenty of interest going on in it. Aiming for a gravity at the upper end of the scale paid off.
From one throwback beer style to another: Limited Edition 30 is a
West Coast IPA. As a brewery of mature stature and sober outlook, Hope ought to be able to do this properly. "Cascade, Columbus, Centennial and Chinook... citrus, pine and resin": the label certainly talks west coast. The beer is not fully clear, but it's the forgivable sort of murk, showing an unwillingness to go hard with the filter, rather than deliberate haze. Pure classic grapefruit is where the aroma starts, with the dark malt providing a sweeter countermelody. The malt is the centrepiece of the flavour, perhaps surprisingly. The familiar crystal malt toffee flavour was certainly a hallmark of old-school American IPA but seems a strange place to start now. Still, the brewery can't be faulted for retro accuracy. 75 IBUs, says the label, and yes there is a very punchy red cabbage and wax bitterness -- far beyond "citrus" -- but the sticky toffee is fully in control. This isn't a recreation of American IPA from 20 years ago; it's a satire of it. A change from the usual fruity murk is welcome but I don't think I'd enjoy all IPAs being like this again.
It was still May when I drink Hope's Maibock, just about: a lovely sunny evening at the end of the month. Good lager weather. This lager, the 29th beer in Hope's Limited Edition series, is a dense and dark amber colour, suggesting weight and richness fully in keeping with the 7.5% ABV. The aroma is what I would expect, even from a lighter beer in the same style. No sweetness, just dry grain and a rustic twang of hay. The gravity comes out much more on tasting, beginning with a very heavy malt-laden base, something like you'd get from a doppelbock or even weizenbock. That carries a shedload of flavour with it, the hay becoming wet grass or fermenting silage. The alcohol is very apparent, with a touch of headachey solvent or fusels enhancing the boozy effect. The coloured malt goes full biscuit, meanwhile, struggling to contain the bang of noble hops but just about managing it. This is no happy-go-lucky sunshine lager. It's an effort to sip through, and despite my usual distaste for noble hopping in quantity, I liked this: there's plenty of interest going on in it. Aiming for a gravity at the upper end of the scale paid off.
From one throwback beer style to another: Limited Edition 30 is a West Coast IPA. As a brewery of mature stature and sober outlook, Hope ought to be able to do this properly. "Cascade, Columbus, Centennial and Chinook... citrus, pine and resin": the label certainly talks west coast. The beer is not fully clear, but it's the forgivable sort of murk, showing an unwillingness to go hard with the filter, rather than deliberate haze. Pure classic grapefruit is where the aroma starts, with the dark malt providing a sweeter countermelody. The malt is the centrepiece of the flavour, perhaps surprisingly. The familiar crystal malt toffee flavour was certainly a hallmark of old-school American IPA but seems a strange place to start now. Still, the brewery can't be faulted for retro accuracy. 75 IBUs, says the label, and yes there is a very punchy red cabbage and wax bitterness -- far beyond "citrus" -- but the sticky toffee is fully in control. This isn't a recreation of American IPA from 20 years ago; it's a satire of it. A change from the usual fruity murk is welcome but I don't think I'd enjoy all IPAs being like this again.
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