Call the style police

As it's the beer producing arm of a brewing supplies company, one would have thought that Our Brewery would have all the technicals dialled in. I found some... not flaws, but anomalies, in the most recent set I bought.

I began with Is This How You Feel, presented as a witbier, and it does list wheat, coriander and orange peel among the ingredients, but there's chamomile too. 3.8% ABV is far lower than any Belgian brewery makes this style, and seems a little retrograde. And then the colour is almost completely clear, the shiny gold only very faintly misted. So it's not a witbier as the term is commonly understood. The aroma doesn't do much, offering little other than vague savoury herbs. It's as light as the strength number suggests, verging on watery, though there's enough flavour being carried to keep it interesting. That's a fresh floral character, giving meadowy lavender and violet with a jet of lemon zest and a heavier oily herb side. It's not witbier but it's very tasty and exceedingly refreshing. I can't think of what other style it could be designated as: this is the sort of creation that isn't really done any favours by the whole concept of beer styles. While it's delicious, I don't know that it would score many points in a style-based competition against other beers. This demands to be enjoyed on its own level.

Pils to follow: Any Kind of Weather, single hopped with Nelson Sauvin. This is a flawless pure gold, and with a bit of poke at 5.4% ABV. Immediate marks off for poor head retention, though instant forgiveness for a fabulous tropical aroma, combining mango and melon with a spicy-floral bathbomb background. I'm in. Expecting fruit, I was surprised by the bitterness of the foretaste, and there's a dry grain-husk character as well. Nelson's white grape follows that, and the spice reappears as a jasmine perfume effect, more sticky dessert wine than crisp Sauvignon Blanc. With that comes an unctuous texture which is most un-pils-like. I think they might have mis-assigned the style here, because it's really not much like a pilsner, what with the sweetness, strength and density. Regardless, it's another unorthodox beauty. I love Nelson Sauvin in full-throated tropical mode and that's what's on offer here, although I had looked forward to a pilsner and was a little disappointed it wasn't delivered. I'll take a gummy Nelson showcase quite happily instead, however. 

They're all special to me, so I don't know what makes the American-style IPA, Making Sense Of It All, a "special edition". They're trying to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds here, offering "west coast intensity with a touch of modern haze juiciness". I was sceptical. In the glass it's a west-coast amber, though reasonably hazed up, albeit far from opaque. The aroma is citrus pith and grapefruit segments, plus a savoury seam of fried onion, all of which chimes with the billed hops: Columbus, Cascade, Simcoe and Citra. There's nothing New England about anything there. The body is surprisingly light for 6.2% ABV, and there's certainly none of the full and smooth body that comes with the hazy side. Alas, that onion end of the equation is what dominates the flavour, leaving the grapefruit cowering behind it. No extra flavour dimensions appear either, so there's none of the promised haze character and it's all quite two-dimensional. I expected more at 6.2% ABV. Thin and severe, without any proper west-coast zing, this was quite the damp squib, unfortunately.

Still, two out of three is decent going. It's not like we needed another hazy IPA on the shelves anyway. Bonus points for the brewery's tweaking of the established beer styles and (mostly) making good stuff outside of the normal parameters. That's a more worthwhile type of creativity than bunging in some wacky ingredients.