Ringwood Brewery ‘Circadian’ Session IPA

Rating:

“Circadian means a pattern recurring naturally on a twenty-four-hour cycle. At Ringwood we felt that it would be the perfect name for our new ‘Every day IPA’. To give circadian the full flavour of an IPA while keeping the ABV to a sessionable 4.5% we used a total of 5 exotic hops! We recommend Circadian is best enjoyed with a spicy curry and good company.”

Glassware: IPA.

Appearance: Bright amber and as clear as day! It forms two fingers of sturdy white head which holds up well. It posts thick and sudsy rings down the glass.

Aroma: To be honest it doesn’t smell at all English. If we were to guess our first thoughts would be an Australian IPA as we reckon our IPA’s fall somewhere between the malt-forward English version and the hop-charged American ones. It’s obviously crammed full of American hops as we’re copping a tonne of pine and candied citrus, mild tropical fruit and spice. As it warms the rich and sweet malts really come in to play. A little unorthodox but we like it.

Flavour: A little lackluster unfortunately. The hop bitterness is here but the actual hop flavour is rather muted. The BB date is 30/6/21 so it is quite old but then again English IPA’s age better than all their other counterparts. After a few more swigs we do pick up subtle pine, citrus, a bit of resin and evergreen along with a somewhat dry and earthy malt profile but that’s about it.

Mouthfeel: Crisp, slightly dry and well rounded. Nice vibrant Co2, medium body. Only 4.5% ABV so they’ve done well to cram all that in.

Overall: Well this is about as American as an English IPA can get. We’ll admit it was a pleasant surprise but it’s a shame it tastes a little tired. We’d love to try it again fresh.