“Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Drifting off the beaten track allows you to explore roads less travelled. The drifter series will broaden horizons , drift in and out, and will no doubt bend a few spokes along the way. Drifting in is cluster 8, this geared up IIPA promises to quench your hop thirst.”
Glassware: IPA glass.
Appearance: As the old peel top usually goes she musters up a big three finger head which sits atop a beautiful amber body. Lacing is patchy at best.
Aroma: We’re getting tonnes of sticky sweet malts, caramel and overripe stonefruit with dank hops and a somewhat fermented orange citrus undertone. Some sappy pine and residual sugars here and there, pineapple coming to the fore as it settles in. Not sure whether they’ve pulled the hop bill back for this can release but it seems very malt forward.
Flavour: Again lots of residual sweetness, caramel malt and cocktail fruits which open the door for the dank and piney hop resins to creep through midway. Tangy citrus, fleshy papaya/paw paw and juicy ruby grapefruit set up a surprisingly smooth finish with decent length.
Mouthfeel: It holds a good weight without being too muscly. Smooth, medium-full body. The 8.8% AbV is incredibly well masked.
Overall: We’ve been filling our metal Bentspoke growlers with the C8 for years now and even though this is recently canned we’d say it drinks better fresh from the tap. That said we’re excited to see them finally canning it. Next up Cluster 12???