“It’s a beer that takes heady inspiration from the US, piling on additions of Columbus, Simcoe, Citra and Mosaic to create a beer that, over the course of a glass, acts as something of a checklist for flavours and aromas you expect from New World hops. Lime and pineapple aromas: check. Grapefruit marmalade: check. A touch of capsicum: check. Some herbal, earthy touches: check.”
Glassware: IPA glass.
Aroma: Heady, punchy and undeniably American. The olfactory’s are bombarded with grapefruit, orange peel, pine, passion fruit, unripened pineapple, woody spice, jam and a sweet caramel malt at the base. It also has this certain dank quality to it as well. Superb aroma.
Flavour: Nice follow on from the nose. Strong initiation by the grapefruit, pine and tropical fruits but it’s the caramel malts hitting their stride through the mid palate. It’s only short lived though as bitter citrus, pine and orange peel take back the reins and finish on a dry bitter note with reasonable length in the tail.
Mouthfeel: Dry overall texture but the malt bill offers a slight chewy-ness. 6% ABV is well behaved and the 55 IBU is assertive but still amicable.
Overall: Dainton have undergone a bit of a re-branding of late and apparently this IPA is the new version of their old ‘insane uncle IPA’. On its merits it is a good IPA – big and ballsy but without that hefty ABV. Memorable? Not so much….but a nice drop that’s for sure.