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13-04-2022, 07:12
Visit The Beer Nut site (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2022/04/you-dont-know-what-youre-getting.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmsGc-HPCupT_wNsyo2ObAcGlpeoroHxcw87VcKQXUJLL0q0qOTOmnkp 24wMyGwvAy7NjWepq7kMqkLec0NhukKKgCOh6XM5R6uDU9tr5Z uhqdNsqQnYVzlZ7GxvshvJ57GSss7Bk2PO0OjzQVv4rWDhnIf6 sMfnf1Xze2VfYbA0gAvs-wSU/w151-h200/bru_howl_at_the_sun_west_coast_ipa.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmsGc-HPCupT_wNsyo2ObAcGlpeoroHxcw87VcKQXUJLL0q0qOTOmnkp 24wMyGwvAy7NjWepq7kMqkLec0NhukKKgCOh6XM5R6uDU9tr5Z uhqdNsqQnYVzlZ7GxvshvJ57GSss7Bk2PO0OjzQVv4rWDhnIf6 sMfnf1Xze2VfYbA0gAvs-wSU/s2725/bru_howl_at_the_sun_west_coast_ipa.jpg)It was inevitable, with the rise in fashion of beers badged as west coast IPA, that we'd get a lot of variation within those supposed parameters. BRÚ illustrates the point for us today.
They've called Howling At The Sun a west coast IPA but it's quite hazy and reeks, deliciously, of freshly squeezed orange juice. The flavour is full-on bitter, though: a dry citric pith, scorching the palate. It's almost too much for my delicate gob, though thankfully settles down towards the end, introducing a little of the sweet fruit promised in the aroma. There are oats in the ingredients list, making me think they haven't taken the west coast spec completely seriously, but it's close enough for me. This is clean, refreshing and very assertive, and all done at a modest 5.7% ABV. Commendable.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFmICQzsWK9Zv2pUQtq5AFe8x2rQ74JGvQqyigDLOVH 7c8-GPBbGcM0B7snwr4ExuQzgImlCEs2e16I38LmE8JBTfO1HMq4GB q56A3_X7sONpuYkLBpyIyn1kpQh-aSkJaDmRtXUzj0qaGTwOF7b9WFu7p_j6PGZhlryp4kuGziEahh vCMvw/w163-h200/bru_echoes_west_coast_ipa.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFmICQzsWK9Zv2pUQtq5AFe8x2rQ74JGvQqyigDLOVH 7c8-GPBbGcM0B7snwr4ExuQzgImlCEs2e16I38LmE8JBTfO1HMq4GB q56A3_X7sONpuYkLBpyIyn1kpQh-aSkJaDmRtXUzj0qaGTwOF7b9WFu7p_j6PGZhlryp4kuGziEahh vCMvw/s2630/bru_echoes_west_coast_ipa.jpg)The companion piece, Echoes, is also a west coast IPA with oats; slightly stronger than the previous, though noticeably paler and clearer. The aroma is milder and softer with a distinctly tropical side, even though Citra and Motueka are involved, neither of which I would place in that bracket. It must be the Strata. It suffers quite a reversal of fortune on tasting, where I got no tropical fruit and no citrus either. There's a touch of dry grass and oily herbs, which I'm guessing is the Motueka, but otherwise it's husky savoury caraway and sesame seed. There's not much of that either: this is disappointingly characterless. Clean, I guess, but very much the point at which that meets bland.
It's fascinating how two beers, in the same style, released from the same brewery at the same time, can be so different.
More... (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2022/04/you-dont-know-what-youre-getting.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmsGc-HPCupT_wNsyo2ObAcGlpeoroHxcw87VcKQXUJLL0q0qOTOmnkp 24wMyGwvAy7NjWepq7kMqkLec0NhukKKgCOh6XM5R6uDU9tr5Z uhqdNsqQnYVzlZ7GxvshvJ57GSss7Bk2PO0OjzQVv4rWDhnIf6 sMfnf1Xze2VfYbA0gAvs-wSU/w151-h200/bru_howl_at_the_sun_west_coast_ipa.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmsGc-HPCupT_wNsyo2ObAcGlpeoroHxcw87VcKQXUJLL0q0qOTOmnkp 24wMyGwvAy7NjWepq7kMqkLec0NhukKKgCOh6XM5R6uDU9tr5Z uhqdNsqQnYVzlZ7GxvshvJ57GSss7Bk2PO0OjzQVv4rWDhnIf6 sMfnf1Xze2VfYbA0gAvs-wSU/s2725/bru_howl_at_the_sun_west_coast_ipa.jpg)It was inevitable, with the rise in fashion of beers badged as west coast IPA, that we'd get a lot of variation within those supposed parameters. BRÚ illustrates the point for us today.
They've called Howling At The Sun a west coast IPA but it's quite hazy and reeks, deliciously, of freshly squeezed orange juice. The flavour is full-on bitter, though: a dry citric pith, scorching the palate. It's almost too much for my delicate gob, though thankfully settles down towards the end, introducing a little of the sweet fruit promised in the aroma. There are oats in the ingredients list, making me think they haven't taken the west coast spec completely seriously, but it's close enough for me. This is clean, refreshing and very assertive, and all done at a modest 5.7% ABV. Commendable.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFmICQzsWK9Zv2pUQtq5AFe8x2rQ74JGvQqyigDLOVH 7c8-GPBbGcM0B7snwr4ExuQzgImlCEs2e16I38LmE8JBTfO1HMq4GB q56A3_X7sONpuYkLBpyIyn1kpQh-aSkJaDmRtXUzj0qaGTwOF7b9WFu7p_j6PGZhlryp4kuGziEahh vCMvw/w163-h200/bru_echoes_west_coast_ipa.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFmICQzsWK9Zv2pUQtq5AFe8x2rQ74JGvQqyigDLOVH 7c8-GPBbGcM0B7snwr4ExuQzgImlCEs2e16I38LmE8JBTfO1HMq4GB q56A3_X7sONpuYkLBpyIyn1kpQh-aSkJaDmRtXUzj0qaGTwOF7b9WFu7p_j6PGZhlryp4kuGziEahh vCMvw/s2630/bru_echoes_west_coast_ipa.jpg)The companion piece, Echoes, is also a west coast IPA with oats; slightly stronger than the previous, though noticeably paler and clearer. The aroma is milder and softer with a distinctly tropical side, even though Citra and Motueka are involved, neither of which I would place in that bracket. It must be the Strata. It suffers quite a reversal of fortune on tasting, where I got no tropical fruit and no citrus either. There's a touch of dry grass and oily herbs, which I'm guessing is the Motueka, but otherwise it's husky savoury caraway and sesame seed. There's not much of that either: this is disappointingly characterless. Clean, I guess, but very much the point at which that meets bland.
It's fascinating how two beers, in the same style, released from the same brewery at the same time, can be so different.
More... (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2022/04/you-dont-know-what-youre-getting.html)