Brew Dog IPA is Dead 2012

Four rather cool looking bottles lined up for a back to back tasting.

First some notes about the core of the beer itself - this is a well crafted beer, no real surprise from the accomplished crew at 'Dog. Tending slightly on the sweet side of things perhaps but not unbalanced by any stretch, it's a good drop to showcase the hop - and that, after all, is what IPAs should be about. Good colour, good head retention, in short a good shell casing with which to deliver our promised hop bullets.

Motueka - green grassy herbaceous sort of smell, puts me in mind of marijuana from time to time. Clearly a good hop for aroma, but also for taste as it delivers as promised upon that lovely lush spectrum of NZ hop notes. Very good hop, very good beer, certainly one of the best of the bunch.

HBC - hadn't (knowingly) tried this one before but from the first aroma you know you're in for a USA hop experience, with all of the piney bitterness attached to it. Spiky compared to the rounder NZ effort first up but in no way a bad thing.

Challenger - least appealing nose of the set tending to earthy, even slightly metallic edges as expected from this UK staple. Taste wise however this is still pretty delicious, a lovely surprise after first impressions. Would happily drink more of this regularly.

Galaxy - the Aussie hop shares most in common with its NZ cousin from across the way, delivering a good balance of aroma and flavour. Slightly fruitier and spicier than the Motueka but again well suited to this purpose. Quality beer.

Overall a great set to pick up if you're a beer enthusiast, beginner or advanced, and a lovely way to mull over a couple of hours with a friend or loved one. 8.0

Haandbryggeriet Hesjeøl Norwegian Harvest Ale

Apparently Norwegian farmers were in the past legally bound to brew beer each year, and punished if they failed to do so - this is a recreation of said traditional harvest beers.

I'm torn between jealousy and a very real sense of relief we don't have 55,000 different types of farmland VB traditionally brewed at every outpost across Australia. While beers do not generally exhibit terroir as such it's equally true that a beer of this nature would not likely have arisen in Australia even given access to the materials. It's less a summertime quaffer, and more a thoughtful drinking experience coloured by different palatial notes from all sorts of areas.


But first thing's first - lovely pour on this, dark amber and inviting, sticky, fluffy cloud of head. If you've been expecting a 'the hops are fresh' style harvest ale, you'll be a bit confused by the nose at first, for it's less a celebration of the green and more spice based aromas at first look.


Taste-wise there is a whole bunch of flavours going on here, pineapple, pepper, malt, winter spices like cinnamon, rhubarb, etc. Deep and complex, but refreshing to boot.

Good stuff - spicy but characterful to boot, harvest but not as we know it. 7.5

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest 2012

First thing's first - appearance is important and this is a bloody ripper pour with great colour and head. Mouthwatering.

The nose is grassy, no real bitter pine or anything and the body is in line with these expectations, Motuena comes to mind as probably the predominant partner in this brew. As expected this is nowhere near as sharp as the northern twin, instead delivering a more rounded deep and flavoursome experience.

All of which is nice, but personally as a harvest beer I like the cutting edge bitter Northern Hemisphere edition for the simple reason that I feel it conveys the real value of harvest more effectively than this.

Perhaps it is a product of living where I do but I felt this beer, while good, was just an example of a good hoppy NZ ale rather than a life-changing, go-and-join-a-cult-to-pay-homage-to-the-harvest blast of fresh green loveliness. 7.0