This brew was originally only brewed as a seasonal small batch, but now Kooinda boutique brewery are bottling it. Of interest, this American style IPA uses over 20 kgs of malt per batch.
Poured into a shaker glass, there is a unexpected dark Amber/mahogany hue which is very pleasant on the eye. There is minimal to moderate carbonation seen on the glass and a well retained tightly packed bubbly 10mm head. Typical initial wafts of grapefruit, pine needle, citrus and sweet biscuity malt. First sip yields lovely biscuit malt dominance or backbone, blended with subdued and well contained bitterness of grapefruit and citrus. The bottle also states tangerine. This brew is a hefty 7.5% alc vol but you can’t really even pick up much booze burn on the throat. Also the IBU rating is 85 and it’s surprising because there is no great puckering on the throat with a good swish in the mouth. Good mouthfeel, with moderate to full body, almost creamy and the bitterness just sits on the palate warming it up. Patchy lacing on parts of the glass as we sink it. The alcohol does build up gently on the palate as we get to the end, so beware of driving straight away as you will be sitting on 0.05 blood alc. This is a great drop. All the flavours are so well balanced and living up to its name of ‘transfusion’. When I’m in hospital next after severe blood loss, I hope they put in this transfusion. Decent Australian IPA here.