春天了，蘇格蘭釀酒狗狗大概花粉熱發過頭了，一邊四處去盜採(倒踩)酒花，一邊叫囂著：『IPA早就死囉！來狗狗這兒悼念告解，請求救贖吧！』

鬼扯甚麼？好好說嘛… Brewdog這單一酒花實驗系列，推出了好幾批，可以說是已經脫離了單次性實驗產品的範疇，品質也都很穩定。只是，為甚麼不作瓶內熟成處理呢？都說是為了要『品質穩定』，但，狗眼看人低喔？以為每個顧客都不懂得怎麼儲酒，而且都會瘋狂冰鎮，最後把活啤酒整死、搞得沒那麼好喝會回頭來怪你是嗎？

(其實，私底下，好幾個持這種『求品質恆定』論調而堅持一定要濾酒打氣的英國酒廠真是承認，怕顧客或酒吧把自己的瓶內或桶裝熟成生啤酒弄壞了，反而連累到他們的名聲的…)!!!

這2013年的『悼念IPA』系列有四款，作為對照主體的麥芽配方，今年仍是混合了Marris Otter, Crystal Malt 和 Caramalt 三種麥芽，都定調為 6.7%abv. 的酒精濃度；實驗對象的四種酒花，則分別是英格蘭東南部產的 (East Kent) Goldings、東南歐的 Dana、美國西北部的 El Dorado 和紐西蘭的 Waimea，也都調成75單位的國際標準苦度(IBU)。

這其中有兩種我還真沒碰過：Dana 據說是德國種優雅芬芳的 Hallertau Magnum 與斯洛伐尼亞地方品種的改良配種；而 El Dorado 是美國西北部研發的新寵兒。今晚，就先來選一款自認為很熟悉的 Goldings 與一個沒嚐過也很難想像風味的 Dana 無厘頭比一比吧…

General Info.:

GD (Brewdog, “IPA is DEAD 2013” Goldings): 6.7%abv., 75 IBUs, BB 21/03/2014.

DN (Brewdog, “IPA is DEAD 2013” Dana): 6.7%abv., 75 IBUs, BB 25/03/2014.

Both are packaged in a slim 330ml brown bottle, likely filtered but not pasteurised; served mildly chilled in short-stemmed goblets.

Appearance:

3.5/5 GD: pours a translucent, bright orangey amber hue with very mild carbonation and a thin sheet of white foamy head.

3.5/5 DN: looking almost identical with GD… really.

Smell:

3.75/5 GD: aromatically orangey notes, sweet citrus, light lychees, and sweet floral esters, against an assertive malt body mainly of English pale malts with a wee touch of barley candy; the hop elements are pleasant but not so… pronounced as the brewery sets out to achieve, as the malt performance seems to outweigh the hoppiness on the balance. A swirl gives rise to a deeper and richer marmalade-ish aroma.

4/5 DN: more resinous than GD, the aroma mainly consists of piney, prune-ish and ripe guadalupe melon-ish elements, edged by deep honey-ish notes and against a sweet pale malt background. Showing more contrast in a strange harmonious way b/w the hoppiness and maltiness. A swirl gives rise to an intense aroma as of sweet musty & flowery esters. Very pleasant and very different indeed.

Taste:

4/5 GD: mildly sour-sweet yet otherwise quiet foretaste, lightly earthy, orangey, on top of nicely bitter-sweet pale malts… everything you’d expect from a more… English/British take on the style. Mild tannins as in lightly crushed orange/citrus seeds and aromatic lychee shells (as a result of hop- & malt-elements) pair with moderately bitterness at first, edged by a touch of phenolic earthiness, then the more “serious” bitterness deepens to deliver a truly enjoyable, lingering finish as a true witness to the dry-hopping process.

4/5 DN: slightly more fizzy than GD on the foretaste, the flavour is so… different than GD, showing a lively floral, piney, mildly sour-sweet, vegetation-focused flavour as well as a soothing yeasty-bready kind of feel on top of mild pale-r malts; the aftertaste shows a thicker backbone from the hop juice and resins, as well as a belated entry of lightly pear-ish esters with a lightly spicy kick. The malts lend a faintly… “gristy” quality on the palate. Compared with GD, it’s rounder in the overall flavour profile though more aromatic at the same time, but the bitterness is much much less pronounced, comparatively.

Mouthfeel & Overall:

4.25/5 & 4/5 GD: mildly refreshing, medium-plus bodied, less aromatic than DN but bolder and more bitter-hoppy on the palate, this “Goldings” is more like what you’d expect from a more typical take on the style with a traditional hop variety, only that the more rigorous dry-hopping process adds an extra dimension to it. Compared with DN, the enjoyment is just as nice; for a “bitter drinker” like me, I’d never say no to a more pronounced bitterly-hoppy interpretation all in all.

4/5 & 3.75/5 DN: mildly carbonated and overall quite rounded and quieter in taste than on the nose, the slightly more oily-resinous feel of the hop profile drives it apart from the more focused, tannic bitterness as in GD. This is my very first encounter with this special hop variety, and I thank Brewdog for making it.

Verdict?

Both are delicious, hoppy, quite balanced, but enjoyable in different ways that simply got lost while I was busy sniffing and slurping b/w the two… Maybe, it wasn’t such a great idea to compare the two very different (hoppy) takes based on the same malt backbone anyway. The original idea is to showcase how lovely hops can be, on the basis on just one simplistic but solid malt profile. To enjoy one at a time, on its own, will be just as respectful for the sacrosanct and idiosyncratic theme, “IPA is DEAD”, I presume…? (Yeah, and what loads of marketing nonsense will come out of Brewdog, seriously????? We’ll see.)

--Yau (tasting conducted 11/06/2013, notes transcribed 17/06/2013)