Never fear, Bertracker's still here! Parrot Dog - Bitter Bitch

When a beer claims to have "a huge, lingering bitterness" and calls itself "Bitter Bitch" it had best back up that statement. Thankfully, Parrot Dog's IPA does exactly that. With bitterness I've not experienced in quite a while, the Bitter Bitch does not disappoint. The bitter bite subsides with a nice malt finish leaving a lovely citrus flavour that persists. Definitely worth a try. 6.0

Rogue Brutal IPA

BRUTAL IPA! From a well-known, hop-connected, US brewery!! Are your nerves jangling for their hit of lupulus goodness yet?

Sorry to disappoint you then for this is no more brutal than a swat from a dehydrated kitten in the world of IPAs. It's a good looking pour with a nose that like a 5am crack fiend initially babbles all manner of fevered claims about grapefruit and lush grasslands, but soon subsides into a coma. With just 68 IBU on the tally, perhaps most of the hops here are added late?

The beer to taste is like a reasonably flat sort of basic IPA. There is a bit of bitterness but it's all high-end front of the mouth stuff with no backing juiciness to back it up. It reminds me distinctly of our very first homebrew using proper hops and the brew-in-a-bag method. That beer was good enough to make us start a brewery, yes.. but I wouldn't sell it, least of all under the moniker "Brutal" in the modern USA marketplace.

Speaking of which, it's true this beer has been around some time by the looks - but that isn't to say it hasn't been updated. Indeed, it used to be called Brutal Bitter, which makes significantly more sense given the UK-centric grain bill and overall lack of balls. So what's the reason to change the name? If I was a cynic, I'd -- oh wait, I am a cynic. They've changed the name because IPAs are far more popular.

This is not brutal, is borderline IPA, but isn't a bitter either. Buy something else. 5.5

Epic Barrel Aged IPA

Another one of 'those labels' from Epic, but this one's got some presence in that 'big glowing clipart' sort of style they have going on.

It's also spent 8 weeks in the oak barrel which augers well for a complex IPA here. After a flattish pour the main aromas are pretty citrusy, I get tangerine, lemon flesh, maybe even lime just ahead of that woody barrel scent.

Rather than smack you with the bourbon (or rum, or whatever) hammer as a spirit aged beer might, this is a barrel-aged drop that takes on substantial funk and sourness ahead of the heft. The brett character up front is assertive and takes most of the hops out of the equation, so what you're left with is a pretty spiky experience rather than the warming alcohol hug you might have anticipated.

It's probably not the beer I was expecting, but not bad nevertheless. 7.5

Brewfist Burocracy IPA

Have to admit looking back on this I was convinced it was "brewrocracy", such is my pun loving nature.

I'll make a good dad.

Regardless this is an IPA from those finest-named of Italian brewers, they of the Brewfist. The photo's not far off the truth here - it comes through pretty damn dark for its 6%. Indeed if you poured it unknown, you'd be forgiven for calling it a DIPA or perhaps a brown based on looks alone. Nose is squarely in hoppy territory however, orange pretty dominant with a bit of spice and pine backing it up.

That spicy sort of character extends to the mouthfeel leaving it quite nice and dry despite the malt & fruit combo. It makes a big difference to drinkability in the end and lets you settle down to punch into what is an easy drinking but flavoursome IPA.

I'm not sure if they were aiming for such depth of colour - the extra malt does give it an almost bitter sort of edge - but not a bad drop if you can find it. 7.5

Coney Island Sword Swallower Steel Hop Lager

Sword swallower? How risqué.

In any case this produces a flattish amber pour and promises an IPA styled beer produced with lager yeast. It's surprisingly high abv for the style too at 6.8%.

This beer smells malty, sort of amber ale territory almost, with vague indistinct hops. The palate is comprised mostly of mid level malts, with backing hops and a clear lager finish.

I can sort of see what they're going for here but to be honest, feel like the aim is a bit arse-about. If you hop up a pilsner, you can produce something that's easy drinking yet with a bit of character to it too. If you take a perfectly good ale and use lager yeast .. well, you lose a lot more than you gain in my opinion. The lower fermentation temp and dryer finish take a lot out of the malt complexity and you're left with something that's just not that memorable. I certainly wouldn't session this, nor drink it for fun or interest.

Ok as an experiment I guess. But again, who is this for? 5.0

Epic Zythos

Another in the seeming storm of IPAs gathering over Auckland.

This one's different as it uses a new strain of hops named Zythos strangely enough. Apparently, that's a Greek version of an Egyptian word for beer. And you can put this Gregyptian 'beer' in with some other stuff, grains and what-not, to make beer. Makes sense, right?

This one presents pretty well, good looking and enticing, nice aroma of - to me at least - NZ and US hops. Perhaps it's a blend? There's a bit of a US twist on the taste too, but you'd have no trouble picking the origin I feel, it's grassy rather than bitter, bit of sort of bready grainy aftertaste too.

The hop combination and backbone here comes together nicely for mine and - again in contrast to ratebeer seemingly - I think this is therefore a better beer than some of their others. Very pleasant indeed. 7.5

McLaren Vale IPA

A rare IPA from South Australia, bright bottle looks good.

It's got good strong US / maybe Australian citrusy hops smell out of the bottle too. Once it's in the glass, malt is more apparent. It's a reasonable looking pour, decent head to boot. Nice work so far.

Taste-wise, this is a beer thattriestotalkabouteverythingallatonce and it's a bit confronting. Rather than having stages, it's like there's a burst of all different fruits, passionfruit and stonefruit in particular just jump in the door three stooges style and the balance kind of suffers as a result. I think it could stand to be a little maltier too, comes across as a little on the watery side which promotes a sweet fruit, almost berry vibe at times.

Not a bad beer - but not memorable or comforting either. 6.0

Epic First Batch NZIPA

No idea what the numbers on the front mean here, 04.39.53 sounds more like an IP address than a date.

This one is a bit darker than the previous drop though it maintains the comparatively light clarity. Clearly not a bottle conditioning mob, these Epics. There's something a bit spicier in this despite the big NZ nose, possible rye notes I think from both the nose and the flavours (could well be wrong!).

This IPA stays a bit flatter and more mellow than Hop Zombie in what I feel is a nice way. It's drier for sure and in our hop-centric IPA fugue, the initial reaction may be to condemn the lack of sticky lusciousness here but I actually think it aids the drinkability of the beer substantially. I'd pick this to drink over the other even though it's less impressive hops wise, simply because the balance is better. And this from a certified hop-head when it comes to other efforts.

I'd drink more of this, but not search it out directly. Nice beer. 7.5

Lobethal Bierhaus India Pale Al

Believe it or not it's Top Gear in the background.. missed the Stig by about 1 frame.

I'd been keen to try these guys if only because they seem to be one of about 2 (McLaren the other) breweries actually still operating in SA (if you don't count wineries) .. even Beard n Brau has now relocated to QLD by the sounds.

So.. traditional 'bierhaus' name, beer called 'India Pale Al' of all things, label that looks more like a Christmas spiced seasonal than a refreshing ale, described as "hoppy british ale". Very clear pour but a bit sort of dull, small head. The malts are more pronounced than the hops on the nose in fact but ol' lupulus comes back in the taste. It's not apparent front of mouth early in the tasting but does appear from the midpoint as an indistinct burst of bitterness, somewhat muffled by the predominant barley flavours. Bottled Dec 2011 so while not fresh, not dead either.

If you quaff this, there's an instant where you feel some fruits but it is gone in a flash. I'm well aware these English variants aren't the hop wagon that American style efforts often are, but it's nevertheless a little indistinct and underdone for mine. That's not to say it's bad beer - it's just really not hit the spot for a beer marketed as IPA - UK or otherwise. And I'm still unsure why it's called Al. Hi Al! 5.5

8 Wired Fresh Hopwired

Given the success of the normal hopwired I was mad keen to hook into some of this, the fresh hop variant.

Good dark amber pour, visible aeration, low sudsy head. Nose is dominated by sweet malt and earthy NZ hops. Not quite as punchy as I would have expected but nice and lush regardless. Not sure it has the same swampy (in a good way) character as the original.

Mouthfeel is good, beer itself is really deep dank and earthy with a punch of muted bitterness coming along for the ride. It´s a pretty powerful beer this in its way but sticks to the low and middle notes with nothing really rising above that chorus. Feels a bit less balanced than the other and as a result slightly hard work as opposed to the massively moreish character of the superb normal drop. Slight bit of booze on both the nose and the flavour.

It turns out this beer was made in two batches as it were, to catch the fresh hop characters of the Motueka and Nelson Sauvin strains which must be harvested at different times. The beers were then mixed together to form this final product. I am not sure how much this mixing would influence the beer but this progeny seems really quite markedly different to its predecessor.

This is a good beer and in isolation would rate very well indeed. In this context though I actually like the original better, and by a distance too. It's just that saying that feels kind of like the sporting upset of the season.. 8.0

Nøgne Ø India Pale Ale

Kjetil and crew brew a number of different IPA variants - this one is the simplest and most straightforward.

Happily, simplicity is not the same as boredom here - a lovely nose of strong citrus, lemon, and grain sweetness heralds one of those beers that is just a pleasure to drink. The malt backbone is the star, delivered via a velvety smooth mouthfeel that seems to have immigrated across the border by dead of night from some of their excellent darker beers.

It's not a hops explosion by any means but there's enough fruit and spice there for balance - and balance is what this beer has in spades, a delicious all-rounder effort that should be entry level textbook reading for brewers looking to enter this field. 7.5% abv is spot on, and it's attractive to look at to boot.

At the (Australian) price point this beer has a lot of competition - but at least you know you're buying a beer that is rock solid reliable and guaranteed to please. 8.5

Beer Here Hopfix

Have to say first up, what a great label. He's just saying what we're all thinking..

Aaaaaaaah..

Where were we? Ah yes, hops. Our gentle lords and saviours. This beer delivers them in a format that speaks immediately of rye additions alongside the inevitable US hop aromas. Quite noticeable sediment, though it is not intrusive.

Taste-wise this fits in with the 'pleasant' rather than 'destructive' school of hop-bombing, easing 6.5% of Sunday morning come down juices into you without ever getting all up in your face about it. It's a pretty chilled dude, very green, more about the herbs than the abrasive bitterness y'know, why can't we all just get along?

Which could all get a bit boring if it were underspecced, but I feel the rye just gives it enough character to be that bit more than alleyway hop water. Well thought out and yet cruisy at the same time. 7.5

Red Hill Diamond Jubilee British IPA

Another beer from history, this one attempting to commemorate 60 years of the Queen by recreating an old recipe for the original India Pale Ale.

As such it's going to be an English hop based product - which as we've seen can go one of two ways. In this case, it's a sloppy pour out of the bottle with a loose head that's gone within moments. Aroma is, well, British.. but not a great deal of character coming through even then. Pretty nondescript to be honest, a bit disappointing.

The palate brings bitterness above and beyond any real sense of 'hops', which I suppose makes sense if they're following the auld recipes. It does somewhat limit the flavour progression of the beer however with a pretty flat character throughout. Bit metallic, only one real punch of malty fruits about half way through the mouthful.

In short then an OK sort of a beer, but I'm unsure it commemorates anything more than misplaced nostalgia. Nice bottle though. 5.0

Mountain Goat Seedy Goat Coffee IPA

I have to admit, I positively salivated at the sight of this one up on the specials board.

I mean, coffee.. and IPA? Brilliant plan, can't wait to try it. And indeed it turns up looking quite attractive with a pillowy cloud of frothy head (crema?).

Time to bury the sniffer in for a blast of the good stuff then right? But from the outset the coffee is not incredibly evident, with the nose delivering mostly the standard pine / fruit / light sweetness bill. Drinking it is a similar experience in a way - the coffee is only really there is you go searching for it and while it does add a nice rounded note to the mid carbonation and otherwise fine flavours, it's really not the star of the show, and that is somewhat disappointing.

I'm not sure what to say about this. My initial thought is to raise the frankly baffling suggestion to dial back the hops to let the coffee shine. But .. dial back the hops? In an IPA? Defies the point, really. I'd like to see the talented crew here keep having a crack at this idea in any case as there's the kernel of a truly delicious and innovative brew starting here - just short of the mark at present. 7.0

Mountain Goat Hip Hip Hooray IPA

Pretty pumped to visit the crew at Mountain Goat finally at their brewery in Richmond.

It's a pretty industrial sort of space where you're more or less in one half of the brewery shed. The beer's fresh, the pizzas are good and it's a nice space to enjoy a few beers after work. I can't be the only one thinking this either as it's packed even on a Wednesday night. They're currently only open on the Wednesday and Friday I believe but it seems they'd do well to open it further, permits permitting.

To the beer - and first up a single batch IPA produced for someone's birthday if I'm not mistaken. It weighs in at a solid 7.4% and could perhaps be considered a double or imperial at that rate.

I found this to be a serviceable IPA in the 'big n strong' mould, with a great creamy sticky head and a slight barley tea sort of flavour on the finish. Eminently drinkable and accomplished, but not overly special to my palate. 7.5

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

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

Dundee India Pale Ale

I have to say I was pretty suspicious about this new arrival nestled amongst the budding craft beer stocks at my local Woolworths.

It's an IPA, and from America to boot so ostensibly there should be good potential. From the start however there are doubts creeping in with the off-orange fanta-like colour and wobbly, obsequious head.


The nose too is of maybe pilsner malt, with a slight edge of american pale ale. A concurrent lack of hop herbals or bitterness means that any wild thoughts of enthusiasm you may have been cradling are now surely dwindling.

The wake continues mournfully as you take a sip, odd notes of maybe grape or sweet orange abound within the wishy washy mouth presence and there's really no bitterness to speak of. Odd dead metallic malting completes the dread procession.

Yeah. So vaguely unpleasant and in a sense, vaguely angering. I wasn't expecting brilliance here but I get the distinct impression that someone somewhere is taking the piss. If you want a good IPA, there are far better domestic options right next to it in the fridge. And hell even if you're gearing up for the fourth of July and want an American drop, you can easily pick up something from Sierra Nevada even at chain bottleshops. Avoid. 3.0

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA

Another Californian drop vying for the mantle of king of the IPAs.

"Bigger is better" it says, but this is a reasonably restrained 7.0 abv, which makes for a pretty sessionable experience. It's a golden colour in the glass, very light, visible and approachable. Taste-wise it's one of those archetypal IPAs, a little bit on the sweet / sugary side possibly but well balanced overall. I found there was a slight missing spot about three quarters of the way through the flavour profile that could have been punched up to really finish this beer nicely.

My feeling is if you were in the states and could pick up a six pack for a lobster or so, it would be a no brainer. As it is .. it's pretty damn pleasant but probably not as much of a special experience to warrant choosing it too often over some of its rivals. 7.5

Big Sky IPA

Hmm.. well it's another cheerful label if nothing else.

Pleasingly however that's not where it ends - in fact, there is very good beer lurking behind that antelope, or ibix, or whatever. The Simcoe hops and whatever else they're doing here lends it an aroma and taste profile more in line with malty DIPA brews than the typically more bitter hopped American IPA crowd, but at 6.2% it's simultaneously quite light to drink.

It's good looking, laces well, holds its bubbles inert. Nice aeration makes it incredibly easy yet tasty balanced drinking. My only real down notes were a slightly watery finish, but that in itself is a product of the approach they've taken.

I'd buy this again no worries. Recommended as a gentle yet tasty, different take on American IPA. 7.5