The boys with the one-eyed aliens on their labels are back with what we hope is another out of this world IPA. For us, this brewery has become quite the ‘go to’ for big, intensely hopped IPA’s and we are sure we have another one right here.
Popped and served into an IPA glass. Our careful pour still manages to arouse a frothy 2 finger beige head that steadily deconstructs but holds firm at about 1cm displaying brilliant head retention and allowing a tonne of thick lacing to cling to the glass. Gorgeous colour too, almost crimson with deep copper hues. Very attractive. All of our wishes come true on the nose as the first whiff yields big, bitter fruits like grapefruit, lychee, orange, citrus rind and passion fruit. It’s actually hard to ignore the solid malt presence here too, coming across as a red IPA at times with chewy wafts of caramel, toffee apple and honey. And then there’s the astringent alcohol that gives the olfactory’s a bit of a tickle. Wow, this is a superb aroma. In the mouth it’s sharp with a creamy texture. Medium carbonation and body. Plenty of grip on the tongue but with a cleansing wash from the level of alcohol (9.1% ABV). So many flavours for our brains to isolate! This is amazing. Caramel definitely comes forward but it is drowned out by an aggressive hop bitterness that injects big, citric doses of grapefruit and citrus rind. Encapsulating it all is a strident alcohol burn that cuts through from start to finish. A soothing honey-like sweetness through the mid is short lived as the big lip puckering bitterness returns in the finish. A very sharp alcohol sting really moves in on the rear palate, bringing with it incredible length. Ok, about now is when we realise the word “devastating” on the label as this DIPA has absolutely devastated our taste buds, but at the same time have them begging for more. This is IPA heaven. If you aren’t a complete hop freak then leave this alone, but if you’re willing to murder your taste buds for an hour then don’t wait a second longer, this is an incredible IPA. Thank you KAIJU Beer