漸入佳境的夜晚 - 被Greene King氣完後，品嚐第二支(像樣多了的) IPA~~ 這質地新鮮的泰晤士河南岸新詮釋，真是『魚與熊掌兼得』：體質均衡、色彩豐富、風味的空間+時間進行式在味蕾上輕快跳躍...

The Kernel, India Pale Ale (Amarillo), 6.3%abv. (American IPA)

Purchased at the Kernel Brewery in London recently; bottle-conditioned in a 330ml brown bottle, bottled on 25/02/2013, BB 25/06/2013, served cool in Tripel Karmaliet’s branded stemmed flower bulb-shaped goblet.

4/5 Appearance: pours a dark orangey amber hue, murky, coming with very light carbonation and a well-lasting creamy off-white head.

4/5 Smell: like all other IPAs or PAs by this small brewery, the nose is predominantly “raw-ish” and sharply fruity-hoppy, boasting fragrance of creamy fruit esters in parallel with assertive fruity aroma as of passion-fruits, sweet grapefruits & oranges, plus a touch of ripe guava and salted-sweet dried hawthorn fruits. The malt body is apparently thicker than a Pale Ale, supposedly using a slightly higher percentage of crystal malts? The sweetness is rendered more complex by the yeasty work on the backbone, pleasantly so.

4/5 Taste: clean on the palate and yet also creamy on the carbonation, the flavour is initially citric-fruity and creamy on the pale and crystal malts, with a wee touch of yeasty sourness, then ensued by a soothing wave of moderately tangy and resinous juicy hops, deepening tannic bitterness and dry-hopped fragrance of Amarillo, leading towards an interestingly balanced, dry and clean finish where the bitterness lends a lingering impact and not in a rather harsh or bold way, while the complex tropical fruity elements also provide pleasant undertones to enjoy at the rear of the palate.

4.5/5 Mouthfeel & 4.5/5 Overall: the carbonation is quite simply “perfect” as far as my own preference is concerned, that it’s creamy, mildly effervescent, matching the rich flavour profile and a balanced body all too well. This is a very successfully bottle-conditioned hoppy ale made as, again, a one-off brew by the experimental and flat-structured brewing team at The Kernel. I like the experimental concept, although I also aspire to see them keeping their best guinea pigs as permanent offerings.

--Yau (31/03/2013)