Tasting Notes: Elusive Brewing: Indie Rabble: Forbidden West

Elusive Brewing: Indie Rabble: Forbidden West (England: IPA: 6.8%)

Visual: Clear caramel gold. Large off white head that leaves suds. No visible carbonation in the body.

Nose: Slightly bready. Soft orange and lemon.

Body: Good bitterness. A clean feel to the body initially, but with slight hop oils sheen. Resinous over time. Vanilla. Popcorn.

Finish: Greenery. Hop oils and bitterness. Very resinous. Soft lemon. Dried apricot. Palma violets. Bready. Light sulphur.

Conclusion:

Ok this is both fairly minimal in its take on a west coast IPA, and fairly good as a take as well. Pretty good combo, let’s go.

It is dry, but initially not super dry, and in fact quite clean feeling on initial sipping, with a slight hop oil sheen to it. However somehow the more you drink the more attenuated and drying it seems.

No, I don’t know how that works either.

Initially there is a soft citrus note, but rapidly the bitter resinous hop character builds over that. Initially it is just a pleasant touch, but quickly becomes a brutal assault – in a good way, natch. It also becomes quite bready, giving a bit more weight, then goes out into a very green hop feeling character in the finish.

This isn’t a super polished example of the style, nor does it have that little extra that marks the best of the style, it is generally straight forwards but also … good. Basically if you want a good no nonsense west coast IPA, this is it.

Not much else to say, does the job nicely.

Background: Elusive Brewing have been turning out a lot of variants on their main west coast IPA recently, and doing lots of west coast style collaborations with various breweries. As you can imagine, as a west coast IPA fan I approve completely. Initially I was a bit hit and miss with Elusive Brewing, but I did like their silly 8 bit style cans, so grabbed a couple more for the fun and they really have grown on me since then. I am grabbing a fair chunk of their stuff now. Take note brewers, I am that easy to entice back for a second chance, just give me silly looking cans and west coast IPAs. I don’t know much about Indie Rabble, think this may be my first encounter with them. Music wise went back to Metallic: 72 Seasons. I’ve been enjoying it but not played that much, so put it back in the rotation. Another beer grabbed from Independent Spirit.

Tasting Notes: Sado Land: Ondeko IPA

Sado Land: Ondeko IPA (Japan: IPA: 6% ABV)

Visual: Apricot skin coloured body with a browned touch. Thin white head, lots of small bubbled carbonation.

Nose: Pink grapefruit. Caramel. Custard/ Vanilla fudge. Pineapple. Bubblegum.

Body: Pink grapefruit. Tart gooseberries. Charred bitterness. Muted caramel. Apples. Slight chalk. Treacle pudding.

Finish: Apples. Charred bitterness and high hop character. Lemongrass. Pink grapefruit. Gooseberry. Slightly chalky. Greenery.

Conclusion: This is an interesting mix of IPA styles and flavours. The aroma kicks it off with a very fresh, and lesser seen, pink grapefruit style. It is tart in a way that reminds me of NZ hops but distinctly different to the grapefruit style they express. Against that though is a very east coast style sweetness with lots of caramel, custard and vanilla notes. Enticing me in, but at this point it left me unsure of exactly what I was going to get with that first sip.

The body is quite tart, still with a hint of a sweet undertone – muted in flavour now but stickier, giving grip to the moderate bitterness and charred hop character that starts to show itself. Then this becomes a more powerful growling bitterness in the finish. A greenery touched hop bitterness, but still brushed by that tartness that came before to give some release from the bitterness.

Amongst that are some fresh apple notes and a hint of bubblegum and lemongrass which may be psychosomatic as I tend to associate those flavours with Japanese beers due to Sorachi Ace hops – or maybe it is there? Always hard to tell where your expectations are influencing you.

It doesn’t always hang together – the malt backing can seem a tad watery in the middle, leaving the hops a bit charred and harsh with nothing to counter them, or letting through a chalky edge, but generally it is fine. It is fun, different and interesting.

Not a must have but I’m appreciating the mix of characteristics, flawed as it may be.

Background: Sado Island, a lesser visited place by tourists in Japan, so when we spent a few nights there and I saw this lovely local brewery bottle I decided to grab it to do notes. Helped that it is another west coast IPAs, one of my favourite styles. Ondeko refers to the mask on the bottle – a demon mask used in local Sado Island dances used to drive away bad luck and such. I have probably butchered a complex local art, but hopefully you get the idea. Sado Island in general is a fascinating place and so utterly different to the images people get from the more popular Tokyo and Kyoto – well worth a visit if you get the chance.

Tasting Notes: Nuttari Brewing: Aranami IPA

Nuttari Brewing: Aranami IPA (Japan: IPA: 6% ABV)

Visual: Browned gold body, thin browned head that leaves suds.

Nose: Cake sponge. White bread. Bready hop character. Lemon grass and bubblegum.

Body: Faintly sweet. Brown sugar. Palma violets. Bready hop character. White bread.

Finish: Palma violets. Bready bitterness. Brown bread. Lightly peppery. Lightly earthy. Wheaty. Solidly bitter hop character.

Conclusion: This, surprisingly for an IPA found in Japan, reminds me more of old school British IPAs than any other take on the style. I don’t know if it is a deliberate choice, but it is very much what comes to mind.

It has got a lightly earthy, peppery bitterness, with less of the showy notes of its USA or NZ cousins, solid bitterness but not bracing or kicking, just an every present background. Something bitter but restrained.

The malt is fairly sweet, again not matching the overt sweetness of an east coast IPA or the dryness of a west coast, more the robust adjacent of a British bitter which again is what to calls to mind the old school British IPA take. It feels much more sessionable in flavour than most of the beers that call themselves session IPAs do – though this not having to deliver at a sessionable abv probably helps give it room to build that flavour profile.

It is a solid beer, no stand out shining moments, but robust and uses the earthy, peppery hop character without falling into the trap of ending up just tasting of soil like many a bad beer has.

A solid, almost sessionable IPA if not for that pesky abv!

Background: The Nuttari brewpub in Niigata is a very cool experience. Nigh uniquely for a craft beer place in Japan (in my experience at least) it eschews the more American styling and actually leans into a more traditional Japanese room look – even having an area to take your shoes off before going in. It gives it a completely different vibe and makes it really welcoming. This was helped by both really friendly staff – the woman serving me was so friendly and happy to discuss the beers and Japanese whisky – which is always good by me- and also friendly fellow drinkers. One drinker recognised my Eddie Dennis T-Shirt and expressed his love for the older years of Progress Wrestling. So overall really nice place to drink. While this beer was good, I really wish I had done notes instead on some of their other beers. They have a lovely old ale made with Nelson Suavin hops which was a brilliant mix of British old ale tradition and NZ hop freshness that I highly recommend, and their anniversary amber ale very much impressed me in a style that is often very average. So, if you are in the area, check them out. I would say this one I did notes on was by far the weakest of their very good beer list, and even as that was not a bad beer.

Tasting Notes: Passific: Chako

Passific: Chako (Japan: IPA: 7% ABV)

Visual: Slightly hazy darkened gold body. Lots of small bubbled carbonation and a large loose bubbled head.

Nose: Pine needles. Resinous. Dry apricot skin. Chopped banana. Sweet white grapes.

Body: Good bitterness. Juicy. Vanilla. Apricot syrup. Green grapes. Menthol touch. Brown bread. Resinous. Pine needles imagery.

Finish: Apricot syrup. Greenery. Solid bitterness. Sulphur touch. Bready bitterness. Minty touch. Growing bitterness over time. Resinous. Grapefruit.

Conclusion: Yes, even in Japan I am obsessed with west coast IPAs, and thankfully this is a pretty good one. It is juicier than most, feeling slightly less dry because of that initially, but as the bitterness comes to the fore so does a drier side of the character, and the resulting assault feels even more bracing for its temporary reprieve.

Initially the beer comes in with resinous and pine needles in the aroma which are so west coast IPA, and hints of the fruitier character with apricot and, unusually, banana notes coming out – but generally concentrating on showing that resinous character, admittedly with more restrained bitterness than you would expect.

Then the body, as mentioned it was initially quite juicy, with even touches of a fruit syrup style, but then that drops sharply into that resinous and bitter character. Now there are just fruit hints that lead into an impressively bitter, just lightly sulphur touched, long lasting hoppy finish. Then it allows just a perfectly subtle touch of the traditional grapefruit tartness as a fresher release.

A slightly juicier, fresher west coast than some, but still firmly in that style and I appreciate the variety it brings – the sweeter bits make the bitter kick more potent

A very welcome visit to the west coast in Japan, well worth a drink.

Background: During my time in Japan I returned to my favourite bottle shop – Tanakaya Liquor store. It is still as great as ever. Tons of whisky, lots of Japanese craft beer, tons of American craft beer and a bunch from around the rest of the world, sake, and more. Great place. I have found so many rarities there over the years and it still holds up. This was one I grabbed there, pretty much by random, they had a few Japanese Breweries that were new to me that made west coast style IPAs and out of them I grabbed this one. West Coast IPAs are one of my favourite styles so seemed a good go to to try. I also picked up two very special American beers, but more on that later…

Tasting Notes: Newton Park: Crater Lake Cold IPA

Newton Park: Crater Lake Cold IPA (England: IPA: 5.8% ABV)

Visual: Clear, light pale straw to yellow colour. Large loose white bubbled head. Some small amounts of small bubbled carbonation.

Nose: Flour. Fresh lime. Lemon cakes. Dry. Prickly hops. Crushed salty rocks.

Body: Dry. Good bitterness. Lime. Light honey sweetness. Gherkin touch. Light Apricot. Vanilla. Clean mouthfeel.

Finish: Dry. Good bitterness. Gritty hop feel. Light honey sheen. Light gherkin. Lime.

Conclusion: Ok, I’d never run into a Cold IPA before this one, but if, as I think from a bit of googling, this is representative of the general style then they have my interest. If this is also representative of the general quality I could expect them I am 100% on board for this becoming the next big thing – hopefully pushing out the NEIPA craze. If you had not heard of the style either, imagine something between a lager and a west coast IPA – as a West Coast IPA fan that could either be completely for me or heresy, and as you have probably guess I am plopping down on the completely for me side of the line.

Oh, spoiler warning for the rest of the review there.

It is nicely dry, as you would hope from the west coast side of things, but slips down much easier than most of those, with that lager style giving a soothing feel as it goes down.

There is soft lime and lemon citrus notes, and a hint but not more than that of the American apricot hops – not the full intensity or range I would expect from the best West Coast IPAs, but that is a high bar of comparison to clear. It works well as a lovely fresh hop character to give enough fresh fruitiness against the dry character and decent hop bitterness. A nice balance.

There is that note I see in good IPAs that I can only describe as a gherkin touch, kind of a light sour undertone, subtly done – it sounds like a horrible thing when said like that but it really works to give a nice twist to IPAs like this. One day I may work out a better descriptor.

The body is mostly out of the way, (in a West Coast style one might say), though with a lager smooth sheen. The main sight of it is in a dry honey sweetness, but even that is understated. In general between the west coast and lager influence it is a gentle mouthfeel more than a flavour.

Overall, generally one I love. Balanced between bite and easy drinking. It dodges the curse of West Coast IPAs in England not living up to the USA ones by not technically being a west coast IPA, despite wearing their influence obviously. Any which way, this is lovely character and I highly recommend you get your hands on one before it vanishes, even if that means less for me.

Background: Been meaning to do notes on this one for a while now, I’ve not been doing as many notes recently but this one definitely needed a slot. First reason for this is Newton Park is, at least for a while, shutting down – as are many British breweries at the moment so wanted to slot at least one in before they went. Second of all this is a Cold IPA, an unusual style I had not encountered before, using lager yeast but aiming for an IPA style. Sounds like an IPL, but from trying it, this definitely seems to earn a place for a style as itself. Finally, well I enjoyed it, as you may be able to tell and wanted to get the message out a bit so people had a chance to grab it before it vanished. Anyway grabbed a few cans of this from Independent Spirit, of which this is one. Went with Electric Callboy: Tekkno for music while drinking – a mate introduced me to them and it was some fun high energy backing for the booze.

Tasting Notes: Original Stormtrooper: Goon Squad

Original Stormtrooper: Goon Squad (IPA: England: 5.5% ABV)

Visual: Clear with just the slightest bitty haze to the yellow body. A large white mound of large bubbled head that leaves lots of sud remains.

Nose: Orange zest. Crisp hops. Lemon juice. Slight gritty bitterness. Slight crushed rocks. Fresh. Cake sponge. Light malt drinks.

Body: Bready feel, moderate bitterness. Lemon cakes. Sugared orange jelly sweets. Crushed rocks air. Slightly thicker feeling middle, but moderately dry in general.

Finish: Orange – a mix of blood orange and tangerine. Solid gritty bitterness. White bread feel. Drying.

Conclusion: Now, I have repeatedly said that in general the UK doesn’t match the USA when it comes to West Coast IPAs. It makes sense really, they have home court advantage. Ones in the UK almost always seem to not quite get all three aspects that I adore – the dry, well attenuated body, the heavy hop bitterness and the layers of complex hop flavours on top of that. They seem to manage two of the three ok, but always seem to miss at least one.

This one … does pretty well actually. I feel that, as they probably have a wide net of potential buyers from the definitely not Star Wars imagery, they are holding off on going fell bore with the harsher edges of the West Coast IPA style, so not to put people off, but even with that said this is a very solid take.

What this nails is the fruity hop flavours, lots of orange notes, from sugared jelly sweets to blood orange to tangerine – it is very well layered around one simple concept for the most part and very enjoyable. It also leans into lemon notes with fresher lemon juice to sweeter lemon cakes. That cake sponge aspect seems to come through quite a bit – which leads us onto how well this manages a dry attenuated base.

It is pretty well done there, not super dry, but with enough attenuation that you can recognise the style. There is a bit more malt showing than normal, some sweeter notes giving a slightly thicker mid body than I would expect, which matches with the bit extra weight of mouthfeel that aforementioned cake sponge character adds but nowhere near east coast style malt levels or sweetness. So, a bit more malt led than expected but generally dry and out of the way so pretty well done.

Finally, the bitterness! Also pretty good – me, I could do with more, I want a west coast that kicks, but I am aware I like silly bitter stuff – this is still solid. Not full USA West Coast, slightly toned down, but still enjoyable.

Overall, yep as you may have guessed a very solid beer and a pretty good take on the style. No complaints here.

Background: This was part of an x-mas present pack of Stormtrooper beers from my Sister and her family, many thanks! I decided to do notes on this one first as I am such a sucker for West Coast IPAs. Like a huge fan. Shocking I know. What did shock me when I saw this was all the stormtrooper Star Wars imagery, how the heck did they either a) afford that? Or b) get around Disney’s lawyers? Turns out it is pretty simple, this is not Star Wars themed. They instead got the rights to use the Stormtrooper armour, which exists completely separately from Star Wars – so it looks Star Wars linked, but is not. Clever marketing. The glass used came with the pack, which, while pretty, all the images on it did make it hard to look at it properly for the visuals section of this guide. Went with The Cybertronic Spree: Ravage as music for drinking to – more sci-fi themed tie ins made sense – a fun 80s feeling bunch of metal from a band that cosplays as transformers. Because of course!

Tasting Notes: Sureshot: Dunblobbin

Sureshot: Dunblobbin (England: IPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Cloudy apricot to yellow. Moderate mounded white head.

Nose: Peach. Green grapes. Fresh fluffy hop notes. Cream. Peach melba.

Body: Lightly oily. Milky. Good bitterness. Greenery. Palma violets. Hop oils. Vanilla. Peppery. Peach. Grapefruit and pineapple.

Finish: Good bitterness. Peach. Light fatty butter. Palma violets. Aubergine.

Conclusion: This is a weird beer. I know, a Mr Blobby themed beer being weird, who would have thought it? But yes, it is weird – if I sit and just sip this beer I am really enjoying it – but if I examine it and try to analyse why I am enjoying it so much it seems quite simple, and I’m finding it hard to pin down what elements actually make it work so well.

Maybe it is my brain trying to reject the fact I seem to be really enjoying a NEIPA style IPA.

Ok, let’s dig into it – the aroma is an obvious plus for it – a huge amount of peach in a mid 2K USA IPA kind of way. There is crisp bitterness there, but not an overpowering amount of hops, which actually calls a lot to east coast style in my mind despite the obvious NEIPA influences.

The body is creamy, showing more of the NEIPA influence but with an oily hop character that makes me smile. It is not quite “Dank”, as is probably no longer the cool term but fuck it, I’m old, but it is a nice call in that direction. Along with the slightly aubergine like savoury notes it really does remind me of mid 2K IPAs, but not as bitter hop heavy as those used to be.

There are hints of fresher grapefruit and pineapple notes that give it some pep, and below that is a gentle east coast style sweetness – no one element says “Banger” but combined together I am really enjoying this.

Without the scary pink blob can images, this would still be a good beer, and one I will probably revisit and enjoy once more if I can.

Background: Ok, if you are not British then those weird pink abominations on the can may confuse you. That is fine. Keep your innocence. You deserve it. It is a cursed image. Anyway, yes I grabbed a can of this because it had Mr Blobby on it. Yes I am easy to sell to. Yes I bought it because of that despite just insulting its existence. I am a complex and confusing entity. Anyway, turned out it was actually pretty good so I grabbed another can from Independent Spirit to do notes on. It is a hazy IPA, which, ok, not my favourite style so bias warning there. Music wise I went back to some Rage Against The Machine – the self titled album. Current world status is making me listen to them more at the mo. Oh, the brewery and beer? You want to know about that? Looks like Sureshot was started by an ex head brewer and founder of Cloudwtaer – so that is a heck of a good heritage for your new Brewery. The beer is double dry hopped with one of my favourite hops – simcoe – so I had high hopes at the start for it.

Tasting Notes: Abbeydale: Wanderer West Coast IPA

Abbeydale: Wanderer West Coast IPA (England: IPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Cloudy lemon juice at the edges to apricot skin main body colour. Thin, loose bubbled white head.

Nose: Lemon juice. Flour. Apples. Some prickly hop character and bitterness. Apricot.

Body: Peach. Good bitterness. Peach syrup. Apricot skin. Green feeling hop character. Slightly dry. Apples. Slightly resinous. Fudge.

Finish: Greenery. Good hop character and bitterness. Apples. Quite dry. Apricot skin. Slightly resinous. Kiwi. Crushed custard cream biscuits and a dry general custard touch.

Conclusion: I was surprised how cloudy this west coast style IPA was on the eye. Thankfully though there is no New England style IPA shenanigans going on here. It isn’t 100% in my preferred interpretation of of a west coast style, but it knows to make it bitter and kick a bit.

It is just slightly dry, not as much as you would expect from the style – there is a chewy fudge backing that shows the malt a bit more than usual, but still dry enough and it gives a base for a reasonably bitter and resinous character. Nothing too hardcore but, you know, bitter and resinous. That is what I am here for and they are doing the job right as long as they get that bit sorted, in my opinion anyway.

The bitter base is then a launch pad for a dry, apple character along with some dry apricot skin notes – a fruity but restrained experience. That said, there is a fruit syrup core to the whole thing that is sweeter and thicker than I would expect for the style, but despite that works pretty well here. It results in a sticky, fruity kind of hoppiness. Clinging but not so much that it gets harsh of dull.

While not a show stopper of an IPA this is a solid mix of bitterness, resinous character and fruitiness and does the job. It is just about dry enough for what I want, and gives a lot of flavour. Very solid indeed.

Background: Abbeydale used to be a brewery I knew for turning out more traditional ales. They seem to be experimenting a lot more these days. Their Wanderer series is bunch of different beers taking inspiration from things around the world – in this case the West Coast IPA which is a favoured style of mine. Single hopped with Citra, which is a classic of USA IPAs this was one I was hoping to enjoy a lot. Another one grabbed from Independent Spirit, I went back to the Animatrix album for backing music – I think I enjoyed the music from that even more than Animatrix itself.

Tasting Notes: Moor: Hoppiness

Moor: Hoppiness (England: IPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Darkened apricot skin coloured body, with a moderate sized white creamy head. There is a very small amount of small bubbled carbonation.

Nose: Apricot skin. Peach. Black liquorice touch. Muggy hops. Slight tart grapes.

Body: Grapes. Grapefruit. Malt toffee. Medium sticky hop character. Apricot. Dry fudge, yet in a sticky way. Light charring. Slight sulphur. Pineapple.

Finish: Malt chocolate. Dry hoppy character. Toffee. Light grapefruit. Good bitterness. Apricot. Black liquorice.

Conclusion: Ok, I have an IPA type, and that type is this beer. My love for West Coast IPAs is well know, but I also have such a soft spot for this distinctly more local take on an IPA.

It has that real ale thickness and grip, along with that slightly sulphurous touch that a lot of real ales have on hand pump, and combines all that with a range of hops that bring out my favourite hop flavours from the mid 2000s.

The old friend of hop flavours is definitely the peach and apricot notes. They aren’t pushed too hard, but are there and welcome as I haven’t seen them much recently as newer hops get the centre stage. Similarly, hello there light grapefruit tartness and a sweet yet tart pineapple mix. Not as overlooked as the apricot, they still get some show these days, but still good to see again. This feels like the best hits from my misspent hop loving youth, delivered in a more sticky, thick real ale way than you often find.

In a trade off for that, as often found in actual cask IPAs the hop feel and bitterness is not as clear as in its non live counterparts. Instead of crisply bitter hops it is a sticky, muggy hop thing, which is an acquired taste, but again one I love and I have missed a lot in my experience with a lot of recent IPAs.

So, it has all the strengths and some of the flaws of that style, as is to be expected. One being that there is a very small black liquorice style touch in the aroma and the finish, I think expressing from the slight sulphur touches, and that liquorice style I have never been a fan of, but I am happy to take the bad with the good here.

There is a moderate toffee and malt chocolate style to the body, not heavy but again that real ale like thickness makes it stand out more than you would expect for the flavour’s intensity.

This is peak cask ale style tradition (in a can) meets mid 2000’s hop flavours all made with years of built up brewing skill. For all the good and all little bad that comes with all that, and it is definitely far more on the good side of things. I adore this and can definitely drink a lot more of it.

An IPA pretty much made for me.

Background: I have tried this a few times recently and swore to grab a can to do notes on, which I finally did – grabbing a can from Independent Spirit. This is part of Moor’s canned “Live Beer” range, which seems to be basically an attempt to do real ale style beer, but in a can. I doubt they will ever get a CAMRA says this is real ale stamp, but in my experience they deliver that. Moor don’t list the chosen hops for this, just saying it is a crossover of their favourite IPA elements from around the world. Laura Jane Grace: At War With The Silverfish. had just been released as I was prepping to do notes on this so I put it on while drinking. A lovely small burst of a mini album, feels more varied than her last solo release with lots of different styles on show.

Tasting Notes: Other Half: Showers DDH Mosaic

Other Half: Showers DDH Mosaic (USA: IPA: 7.4% ABV)

Visual: Cloudy apricot juice colour. Massive loose white bubbled head. No evident carbonation.

Nose: Gritty bitter hops. Marmalade and orange shreds. Fresh dough. Light greenery and herbal notes. Slight sulphur. Cake sponge. Flour. Apricot.

Body: Egg yolk texture. Tangerine and blood orange. Milky. Eggplants. Nettles like bitterness. Apricot skins. Peach. Hop oils.

Finish: Bitter hop oils. Bitter Seville orange. Marmalade. Melon. Gritty, prickly hops. Slight charring. Egg plants. Nettles. Gunpowder tea.

Conclusion: This is the tie breaker! So far I have had one Other Half IPA that was kind of meh (Which is the one I did notes on) and one I really enjoyed (The Nelson Suavin hopped Triple IPA – Which, of course, ended up being the one I did not do notes on), So with the score at one all, I decided to grab one more Other Half IPA to see which way it fell on the quality scale. Just the one more though, these things are darn expensive in the UK, so one more is all I can justify splashing out on.

This started out well. Hmm, ok correction, after not getting much from the aroma initially – maybe due to the fecking massive frothy head getting in the way – After that, THEN it started well.

The texture is that odd, thick character that seems to be Other Half’s trademark. A thick, egg yolk feeling thing which seems to come across as either positive or negative depending on the quality of the beer strapped on top of it.

So, what does this do with that texture? Well generally orange to marmalade notes, delivered in varied ways from sweeter marmalade to more bitter orange notes. Not unexpected, that is pretty much what I expect from mosaic hops, though here it does have some edge peach and apricot like notes which were nice.

Early on it has some bitterness and hop character that didn’t mesh too well. As time goes on that element fades, which is a mixed blessing. It reduces the rough edges, but also it removes the hop character which is what I come to IPAs for. Ah well, I guess not all IPAs are aimed at my preferences and that is fine.

FINE!

There is still a nice hop oil character under there, as well as some matching bitterness, but the bitterness is not clearly defined – a kind of general, muggy bitterness for lack of a better term.

As a tie breaker beer this is not meh, but not great. It really rocks the marmalade orange and apricot notes a clear and sometimes bitter way. Very good hop use in that side of things. The eggy, thick texture is ok, so works, but the more general hop prickle and bitter hop character is ill defined and occasionally harsh here.

So if fails to break the tie as it is half way between the other two. Ok, but not great or bad. Fuck. So, not bad but not worth the high UK cost. Lovely expression of the mosaic flavours but the backing beer doesn’t quite pull it off.

Background: Other Half really have to work on making their beer naming clearer. I thought this was just called Showers but nope, there are many beers called Showers, this is Showers Mosaic Double Dry Hopped. That last bit isn’t just a description it is a name indicating this is a different beer to other Showers. Making a name clear and easy to work out was obviously not on the table here. Anyway as indicated in the main notes I have had mixed encounters with Other Half, some matching their apparently huge rep, others less so. So I grabbed this one, going for the mosaic hop as it is one I have grown a huge fondness for. I mentioned when I first grabbed an Other Half beer that it was fairly darn fresh, even now this is canned on 13/05/2021 so at time of drinking was only three months old – pretty good for getting over from the USA. As before this was grabbed from Independent Spirit. I went with Caracas: Surgical Steel as backing music, been on a general metal music kick recently which is the whole of the reason.