Epic Hop Zombie

Alright, another beer with a reputation and a frenzied swarm snapping it up as soon as it arrives on our fair shores.

This time, the bottle label glows in the dark in keeping with the theme of those dead prowlers of the night - nice touch.

But yes, this is a big fresh hop NZ DIPA and proclaims it from the first whiff. The 8.5% qualifies it for its class but in person it's really not that heavy on the palate or in the glass. It's a subjective note and appearance only of course but I actually found it a little too clear in fact, and would prefer it to be a bit sort of better bodied. It also comes across quite sweet on the palate for mine, fruity, with that aromatic dense green sort of character these NZ-only hop wagons can produce.

I've become a bit ambivalent about NZ-centric efforts like this of late and find often, the experience of just their hops can be a little cloying as you progress through the glass. There are some ripper hops from our neighbours of course but in terms of balance, I'm not sure they're suited to 'big hop' beers.

To me if I was after a lush and balanced IPA I'd go with Hop Manna or similar over this in a heartbeat just due to the overall package and lack of lopsidedness. If I was after a double or imperial IPA, I'd go with something with at least some US hoppage as to my palate at least, they deliver a far crisper performance despite - or perhaps because of - the clean bitterness and therefore feel a lot more drinkable to me.

So, I'm a bit disappointed here unfortunately and can't really see where the hype is coming from. Sad - I wanted this to be awesome but it's just not. 7.0