Southern Bay Brew Co ‘ El Dorado’ White IPA

Rating:

imageThis beer seamlessly merges two styles of beer, the Belgian witbier and American IPA. Here a fruity yeast strain meshes with a type of American hop variety called El Dorado. There is the addition of coriander in the mix here also. Of note, this is a limited release brew.

We havn’t had a lot of single hopped El dorado, especially when you mix it with a wheat style beer. Here goes. Poured into a Spiegelau glass as it seems apt, we get an enormous head of white cloud. Maybe we should have poured into a pint. There is beautiful retention. There is a bit of carbonation here bubbling up and a slightly hazy light golden body presents itself. Definate Belgian yeasts on offer, with grassy hops, citrus and maybe some stonefruit, like apricot. There is a whiff of booze here too. As it coasts the mouth, you taste bold Belgian yeasts, wheat malts, more background booze burn, characteristics almost of a vinous quality, and this must be the stonefruits similar to what a white wine profile would have. There is a herby, vegetable like flavour and we wonder if the addition of coriander gives it that character. Some spice coats the back of the throat, like mild white pepper. There is good bitterness here that lingers on the palate. Body is moderate and sitting at 6.3% alc vol, it feels stronger than what is stated. We like the smoothness of this drop. The booze does get a hold of the head so we not sure you could have more than two in a row. There is decent lacing all the way down the glass as we near the end. Overall this is a nice beer. It’s not top shelf stuff but it’s well brewed.