Big ones

I'll say it at the outset that Whiplash makes all sorts of beers, even though they've made their name as one of Ireland's finest purveyors of hazy IPA. Today, however, it's largely hazy IPA and everything's high-strength.

First, and weakest, is the 7.4% ABV Looks Like Rain, a collaboration with English haze specialists Verdant. Time was, the can would tell you which hops they're using, but not here. I had to go to their website to find out that it's Motueka and Amarillo doing the honours. I associate the former with a strong kick of bitterness, in line with its German roots, but this beer is very sweet, piling in custard, candied orange and lemon drizzle cake. There's also a somewhat off-kilter spicy side, with nutmeg or pink peppercorn, which I'm guessing is the Motueka's doing. As usual with Whiplash haze, it's all done cleanly, free of grit, dregs and similar common bugbears. There's surprisingly little heat as well, given that ABV. I liked the filling, dessertish vibe, and the overall simplicity and clean lines of the flavour. Slagging off hazy IPA is easy (and fun!) but well-made beers like this do make it a little bit harder to do. 

Around the same strength, using the same hops plus Galaxy, looking similar, but the work of Whiplash alone, is So Will Be Now. There's the same sticky sweetness in the aroma, while the flavour leads with quite a contrasting savoury character: scallions, garlic and caraway seed. The alcohol heat accentuates all of these, and there's no vanilla or mandarin to offer a sweetening contrast. It's not as enjoyable as the previous one. While my problems with it aren't the normal hazy IPA ones, I didn't really enjoy this. Is the Motueka side -- vegetal and almost sour -- dominating the zesty citrus of Amarillo and Galaxy's sweet orangeade? Perhaps. Either way, this isn't to my taste at all. Still, it's interesting to find myself reacting very differently to two seemingly very similar beers.

And a double IPA to finish these: Future Dust is a collaboration with Track. It's the hazy sort, as Whiplash's usually are; and delicious, as Whiplash's usually are. The first thing I noticed, however, wasn't the taste or aroma but the head. Hazy IPAs have tendency to be bad at this, but there's a proudly thick layer of white foam on this one, lacing the glass all the way down. The aroma is dank and minerally, suggesting Nelson Sauvin to me, while the flavour is full-on juicy, if a little on the sweet side, bringing a sense of cordial or tinned tropical fruit. Curiosity getting the better of me, I looked up the hops and Nectaron is the only one I could find the brewery admitting to, so at least I was in the right country. It's 8.2% ABV and with that comes a substantial belly-warmth, yet the fruity refreshment remains undiminished. This is quality stuff: solid work from whoever's job it was to distract the Manchester lads so they wouldn't ruin the recipe.

A small but forgivable misstep in one of them, but otherwise the brewery's excellent hit rate on this sort of beer continues. I never thought I would be wishing for yet more hazy IPAs.

And since we're hitting the powerful stuff anyway, a quick snifter of barley wine as an afterthought. This is Oxen, which is 10.5% ABV and bourbon barrel aged. It's murky brownish red and extremely thickly textured, smooth but presumably jam packed full of unfermented sugar. The flavour, accordingly, is not subtle, but it's far from a mess. There's lots of sweet red wine with a major emphasis on the oak vanillins in stereotypical bourbon style. Although it's sticky, there's a surprising cleanness in the finish, a tannic quality which stops it turning cloying. In the usual Whiplash style this is a very class act. Sure what else would you expect?