Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog - Hopjutter Triple Hop

Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site

Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Writing about beer and pubs since 2007
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/...triple_hop.jpg
We’ve never heard of Hopjutter and know nothing about them. We’re going to look them up*after we’ve written this review of their Triple Hop (7.3‰).

The bottle suggests amateurism and we braced ourselves for the bottle to explode on opening. It did not: it hissed and emitted a leafy aroma that made us think of dandelions and daisies.
It is carbonated like a saison, and 330ml easily filled a pint glass with a steady Mr Whippy-like foam.
The first sips were dominated by a punishing bitterness and a numbing quality, like Szechuan peppercorns. Getting through that, an underlying hedgerow-weed and cats’ pee character became apparent. It seemed thin and sweaty, with some clove and aniseed (fennel?).
We were ready to write it off as nasty at this point, more useful as a paint to stop children sucking their thumbs than as a drink, but something made us persevere — perhaps that moreish bitterness — and, eventually, we began to warm to it.
There was certainly evidence of generous hopping, and a strident lemon peel note riding high over everything else ultimately made it quite bearable.
Is it*rough and amateurish; or is it complex, challenging and an acquired taste? It’s so hard to tell the difference sometimes.
We wouldn’t buy it again, but we certainly don’t regret having paid*€2.80 for this one bottle and giving our palates a work out.
Now we’ve looked them up: it seems they are award-winning home brewers; this is supposed to be an IPA;*and Ratebeer users are surprisingly keen.
Hopjutter Triple Hop


More...