Pity purchase

Milkshake IPA is already an idea for something nobody wants; lactose-free milkshake IPA is doubling down on the ridiculousness. But that's what Dublin beershop Craft Central got together with Hungarian brewery HopTop to produce last year. Funky Munky is the result, released in the summer but still languishing in the bargain bin at under €2 a can. I decided to do my bit to help clear the stock.

It's 4.6% ABV and the lactose has been replaced by almond milk in the ingredients, which is listed next to vanilla extract and apricot purée. In the glass it's a kind of pale beige, topped with thick foam to begin with, though this doesn't last long. The aroma is worryingly sickly, with a sharp juice tang presented uncomfortably next to sweet fruit salad. The flavour is similar: quite curdling in the way the two competing sides butt up against each other. There's a certain amount of creamy milkiness about it too, though none of the smooth and sweet vanilla that you'd get in a real milkshake and which I'm guessing the vanilla extract was meant to bring.

This isn't good, even as a novelty beer. They've captured the IPA side of the picture, to an extent, but it really doesn't resemble a milkshake in any good way. I doubt it'll be missed when it's all gone.