“Hop Skip & Jump is strong bodied with moderate clarity, heavy resinous aromas lead into strong flavours of citrus and pine. Rich, marshmallow-like mouthfeel which follows through to the finish. Moderate bitterness.
Styled in the classic West Coast style, it is big and bold yet delicate and approachable. This award winning beer has a rich, almost creamy mouth feel that provides a balance to the piney resinous hop character and lasting bitterness.”

Glassware: IPA.

Appearance: Bold amber complexion with a fluffy two finger head which is maintained well. Good retention and excellent lacing as it ebbs.

Aroma: Definitely in the West Coast style. Heady and punchy resin and dank herbals fill up the nostrils as the somewhat rich sweet toffee and caramels fill it all out. Pithy citrus peel, grapefruit and orange begin to open up as it settles…as does the pine needle, soft fleshy stonefruits and honey. They say first impressions are everything and this is impressing us!

Flavour: Well it backs up big time. Quite aggressive too, which we love our WC IPA’s to be. We get a strong hop bitterness first up, supported by pithy citrus and rind, pine resins and dank herbals. The malt sweetness is kinda pushed to the back but it’s still discernible. The bitterness never shakes and finishes as such with a sharp pithy-ness and a bit of a sting in the tail.

Mouthfeel: Pillowy yet dry and a little acrid. Medium body, mild-moderate Co2. 6.4% ABV and a hefty 70 IBU keeps reminding us that it’s a West Coast IPA!

Overall: This is now our 2nd crack at Aether and we must say we’re liking what they do. We said we were going to move on to their core range and we’re glad we did…this IPA is a really good representation of the style. Solid drop.