The haze code

If hazy IPA is loosening its grip on the independent beer scene, nobody has told Whiplash. They're still churning them out in Ballyfermot, doubtless to a still-appreciative audience. It falls upon your correspondent to pour the requisite scorn, where appropriate. There are two new ones today.

The first is Hail the Apocalypse, a collaboration with occasional visitor to these shores, Mont Hardi from north-west France. Although this one sports a dashing tall head of foam, underneath it's rather sickly looking, fully opaque and a kind of greenish-grey. The aroma is more appetising, suggesting fresh and pithy citrus hops to come. The brewery has, unfortunately, got out of the habit of naming the varieties on the label.

In the New England fashion, the flavour is sweet, leading on soft lemon curd and candied orange peel. It's light for 6.5% ABV, and doesn't get cloying, but there's something off about the balancing bitterness. While I'm sure hops are involved, it's a dreggy sort of bite, all gritty and chalky. This is a very typical flaw for this kind of beer, and one that Whiplash usually avoids. The beer isn't ruined, but it doesn't quite deliver on the promise of its aroma, and ends up tasting a bit more like it looks, unfortunately. Doubtless the hardcore haze fiends won't mind; they've had worse. I'm not a fan, however.

Then the other week I had visitors in Dublin, so showed them the good room of the city's beer pubs, Fidelity. Here they were pouring a Whiplash IPA that's been around since last year but hadn't yet crossed my path: Colour Me In Kindness.

This is a beer on the cusp. It's very much New England style: 6.8% ABV, murky as you like (or possibly even more so) and with a sunny fresh hop flavour, bringing juicy mandarin and mango for a touch of the ice pops. Unfortunately it has a darker side too, starting on a lightly cloying vanilla sweetness interfering with the hops. Shortly afterwards, the harsh and gritty plasterboard bite kicks in again: further support for the sceptics who believe it's a universal rule that hazy IPA is IPA that hasn't been brewed properly. The hop freshness saves it, but I can't help but think this would be better with more effort made at de-hazing it.

I honestly expected better from Whiplash. Their haze tends to be cleaner than these, although often blander as well, lately. I'll keep checking in with them, but I fear we may have lost one of the few Irish breweries that did this kind of beer well.