Friday Craft Beer Review: Ballast Point’s Watermelon Dorado Double IPA

Yes folks, you read the title correctly. A Watermelon Dorado Double IPA!!!

I’m in America at the moment and it seems only fitting to review an American offering. When I was here last year I had a couple of different craft beers, and they were all pretty good. The one that stood out though was Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA. Truly delicious. I was pleasantly surprised to discover Ballast Point for sale in New Zealand not long after coming home. It’s pretty expensive in New Zealand due to shipping and so forth, but they’ve some really interesting beers. Their Sculpin IPA is fantastic, as is their Habanero Sculpin which adds spicy habanero peppers to the mix. One of the more crazy, but superbly done, beers I’ve ever had is their Indra Kunindra Stout. Get this, a madras curry stout with cumin, cayenne, coconut and kaffir lime leaf. Probably something you’d only ever need to have once in your life, but you need to have one. Just add white bread or white rice for a delicious dinner. And they have plenty of beers that I haven’t tried yet, Pineapple Sculpin, Mango Sculpin, Grapefruit Sculpin, an Imperial Stout with Coffee and Peppermint. It’s all happening.

You should check out their website for a couple of reasons. Firstly to see the incredible range of beers they have, but also to see the branding. I’m a sucker for good branding and love the nautical themes they’ve branded all of their beers around.  

Ballast Point Brewing started as a home brew store in 1992. Originally a couple of college kids, Jack White and Peter A’Hearn, tried their hand at home brewing. They struggled to get their hands on the variety of malts and hops and gear they needed to really experiment as brewers though. So, in light of this they opened a home brew store and kind of set themselves up as the home brewers hangout of San Diego. San Diego’s craft brew scene is apparently pretty impressive now and it seems in large part because of this store set up by these college kids. A’Hearn studied for a Master Brewers Certificate at the University of CA and then they started brewing as Ballast Point Brewery in 1996 from the back of the home brew store. Long story short, it went from strength to strength. Ballast Point went from being the first micro-distillery in San Diego this side of the prohibition to being America’s 17^th largest brewery. In 2015 they sold Ballast Point to Constellation Brands for $1 billion USD.

Enough of that though. I’ve a Watermelon Dorado Double IPA to open. Being a double IPA or an imperial IPA (same thing) this beer should be loaded with hoppy bitterness. It’s rated as 90 IBUs. That’s International Bittering Units if you can remember back to my first review. Tuatara’s Double Trouble, a double IPA, is 167. Totally of the charts bitter. Tuatara’s Indian Pale Ale is a 40. So this will obviously be a pretty hoppy beer. In theory there should be some malty sweetness coming through as well but we’ll have to wait and see. I’ve no idea what the watermelon effect will be.

Price: $7.99 355mls (NZD)

Alcohol content: 10%

Colour: Lovely golden colour. Slightly pale and slightly pinky. Not much head. Plenty of bubbles.

Aroma: Floral notes from the hops and slightly sweet. I’m trying to smell watermelon but more getting grass clippings. It is 90 IBUs after all!

Palate: Yum. Yum. Yum. It is very bitter and this hits you straight away. There is a sweetness to it as well though. Brown sugar rather than tropical fruit, but very subtle.

Finish: The finish is where the watermelon comes through. And it’s done really well. The bitterness sticks to the roof of your mouth while the watermelon flavours swirl around your tongue and bubble up your nose. The watermelon complements the bitterness so well. It’s a big beer. 10%. Loaded with hops. Plenty of bite. But at the same time, it’s like it is also loaded with summer memories when with beautiful watermelon notes.  

On the Chart: On the chart this is way down the hoppy side of things. Not quite as hoppy as Tuatara’s Double Trouble but they’re neighbours. There is more complexity with this beer though. The Dorado has hints of malt tucked into it, but also the watermelon is a really cool addition. Way to the left then and up a few notches in complexity.

Conclusion: Over all this is delightful. You should try one. Very hoppy, but there is more going on than just bitterness in this beer. In Tasting Beer, Randy Mosher points out the reality is that anything with taste ends up fatiguing the palate, and I think he’s bang on the money. This is one of the things I love about craft beer. It’s complex, there are all sorts of flavours heading in all sorts of directions all at once. Delightful, but it also means that one or two beers is perfect. The taste helps with moderation. Less is more. I think this is one of those beers. It’s a double IPA. One is enough. I look forward to having another one day, but not today. 

Friday Craft Beer Review: Tuatara's Indian Pale Ale

Having already reviewed a couple of Tuatara beers, I was loath to take on another. But, it just so happens that Tuatara's Indian Pale Ale is pretty much my favourite beer, not to mention one that I often measure others against. So I need to get the review out of the way.

Along with Garage Project, I think Tuatara are leading the way in the NZ craft beer scene. They have all sorts of other interesting beers like a Tiramisu Oatmeal Stout, a Spicy Red Rye Pale Ale, and a very refreshing Pacific Pale Ale. What originally drew me to their Indian Pale Ale though, was a couple of comments on the label. Basically their declaration that any craft brewery worth their salt will first and foremost offer a high quality traditional style IPA. I reckon they’re on the money there. Good call.

While craft beer is so much more than IPAs, much of the variety is found in the way that IPAs can tweaked. You can find Black IPAs, Red IPAs, White Mango infused IPAs, coffee IPAs, APA’s, Double or Imperial IPAs etc etc. Appreciating this, if you are going to go freelance and mix things up, then you should really nail a “traditional” style IPA first. The benchmark.

Tuatara promote this IPA as “true to form” and a “proper English-style” IPA. With that in mind we should be expecting full malt body as well as a decent hoppy finish. But it should be really balanced as well. Let's see. 

Price: $6.99 500mils

Alcohol content: 5.0%

Colour: A lovely amber gold. A nice frothy head. Not many bubbles.

Aroma: Smells tropical, apricots and herbs. Doesn't smell as herbaceous as some IPAs or as most APA's tend to be. 

Palate: So refreshing. Sweet fruitiness - apricots, peaches, passionfruit. And then refreshing hops. The hops are mellow though, not strong or sharp biting at your tongue. They dance throughout the fruit notes perfectly. It’s delicious.

Finish: As you swallow the sweet fruits give way to the tangy hops which then quickly mellow into smooth warm malty flavours. I reckon the subtle sweetness of cookie dough. The lingering taste is then the tartness of hops on the roof of your mouth.

On the Chart: Tuatara’s IPA really is a classic. It is that little bit more hoppy rather than malty, as one would expect in an IPA, but the hops don’t overpower and the creamy sweetness of the malt certainly shines. It’s also a wonderful balance between complex and simple. It’s refreshing but there is also plenty happening with different flavours and subtleties to look for. With that in mind I land the Tuatara Indian Pale Ale left of centre (hoppy and malty) and also want to tip my hat to enough complexity to make it perfect.

Conclusion: For a while my favourite craft beers were the big Double IPAs loaded up with hops. Ultimately though, the hoppy floral bitterness was too much. This IPA balances things so nicely. It really is delightfully delicious. 10/10. 

Friday Craft Beer Review: Boundary Road's London Porter

It's the middle of winter, mild as it might be, and that means log fires, hearty beef stews and even heartier black beers. Or, in other words, it's time to tuck into a variety of deep and dark porters and stouts. This week will have a look at a porter, and I've chosen a cheaper one on purpose. Firstly to see how it holds up, and then secondly, because next week we'll be reviewing Tuatara's 15th Anniversary Russian Imperial Stout; the XV. This one is a little more pricey.

So, Boundary Road's London Porter... Boundary Breweries launched in 1987 as competition to the two powerhouse breweries operating in New Zealand. Dominion Breweries (DB) and Lion Nathan. I’m not sure if they set out to brew “craft beer” or just largers capable of sitting alongside existing NZ beer. Either way they are now owned by the Japanese beer giant, Asahi, and brew a range of craft beers as well as Kingfisher, Carlsberg and Tuborg, (and I assume some Asahi as well), all under license. The fact that they do this, and the awful "ginger beer beer" they brewed one time, makes me suspicious of their ability to brew quality craft beer. It seems they are so diversified that to really do craft beer well could be a push. They also come across to me as "the supermarket craft beer." They actually promote on their website the supermarkets you can buy it from. Makes me wonder if it is cheap and nasty rather than the real deal. Still I thought I’d give their porter a go.

What’s a porter? How is it different to a stout?

There isn’t a lot of difference between a porter and a stout. If you search the internet, you’ll find plenty of interesting discussions of subtle differences but at the end of the day they are two different versions of the same sort of beer. Essentially. More or less. There is some debate. 

Basically though, porters originated in London as a dark style beer brewed using brown malts with the first record of "porters" being in the early 1700’s. Up until around 1700 beer was brewed and then sold to publicans who would age the beer themselves and serve when they felt appropriate. Porters were aged at the brewery and then sold to pubs. They were a strong beer, just over 6%, and apparently a favorite of beer among local street and river porters. 

Stouts were historically the strongest of the porters, 7% or 8%. Originally called “extra porters” or “double porters” or “stout porters” they were eventually known as “stouts.”

Nowadays porters are not a hugely popular beer, aside from in the craft industry. Even then, dark beers are usually brewed stronger, as stouts, and you’ll find a wide variety; chocolate stouts, Russian stouts or Imperial stouts, oyster stouts, chocolate stouts, oatmeal stouts etc. You can find honey porters, vanilla porters and chocolate porters aged in barrels if you shop around, but stouts tend to rule the roost. Looking forward to next weeks Tuatara XV Russian Imperial!

Let’s give this London Porter a try. I’m expecting creamy caramel malts and not a lot of hops. Also, I'm suspicious it will lack body, i.e taste watery through the middle. We’ll see. 

Price: $5.99 500mils

Alcohol content: 5.6%

Colour: Black (obviously) but when you hold it up to the light, it is a deep red where the light can get though. Nice head, creamy rather than coffee like as we sore with the Aro Noir. A few bubbles but nothing to note.

Aroma: Smell is subtle, hints of coffee and chocolate ice-cream.

Palate: At first a slightly bitter taste with the beer feeling like it lacks body, it feels watery. But then the depth kicks in with wonderful deep flavours; milk chocolate, caramel, instant coffee. As you tilt the glass to drink, you again notice the beautiful red hew in the light. It is a very deep red/brown.

Finish: The aftertaste is that of a double shot flat white in a tulip. Espresso now rather than instant. Then a couple of swallows later you get the residual bitterness of hops. Nice hops too, not overpowering or too "herby." 

On the Chart: This porter is about as complex as Garage Project’s Aro Noir but certainly not as hoppy. You pick up the hops for sure, but it’s malt that is leading the whole way. Complexity is the notes of coffee and caramel rather than the contrasting hops. 

Conclusion: I’ve no complaints about this beer. It was a lot more than I was expecting. It’s been a while since I’ve had a Guinness or a Kilkenny, both which I find pretty watery through the middle. They both seem to lack body and complexity (from memory at least). This London Porter doesn’t lake anything. It’s a great beer. Not as complex as an imperial stout, or a beer that has set out to actually capture chocolate or coffee or whiskey flavours, but still delicious. It’s a cheaper brew and it’s a supermarket brew, but provided you like a dark beer, there is nothing wrong with it. Good value for money. Yum. Time to chuck another log on the fire, put the old knitted reading socks on, and with feet up, tuck into a couple of chapters of The Hobbit. Better finish this delicious beer too. Good stuff. 

Friday Craft Beer Review: Harrington Breweries’ The Rogue Hop NZ Pilsner

Started in 1991, John Harrington, of Harrington’s Breweries (Christchurch NZ), set out to brew affordable and tasty beers as an alternative to the overpriced brown ales dominant in New Zealand. At least that’s the story on their website. At the very least, Harrington’s tends to be a slightly more affordable craft beer and is available at most supermarkets. Today I thought I’d tackle their pilsner.

What is a pilsner? As mentioned in our previous discussion of IPAs and APAs, beer was traditionally brewed dark. With clean burning coal allowing for lightly roasted malts and a paler ale, all sorts of brewing possibilities opened up. In the early 1800’s England started producing pale ales and then especially the “Indian Pale Ale” which was exported to India with extra hops preserving the beer for the duration of the voyage. At the same time pale ales were also being brewed throughout Europe. Pilsner is a style of pale ale that takes its name from the Bohemian city of Pilsen, which at the time was a part of the Austrian Empire. While Indian Pale Ale took off in England and India, Pilsners were increasingly the rage in Europe. The clear golden beer was a welcome alternative to darker European Ales.

How is it different to something like an IPA?  What should one expect from a pilsner?

IPA’s tend to try and balance malt and hops. Strong hops are added to strong malts and the result is a reasonably big beer full of flavor and complexity. Pilsners on the other hand tend to be lighter beers. The lighter malts used in a pilsner aren’t as strong as in an IPA and thus the bitterness of hops comes through without the brewer needing to be so heavy handed with the hops. A pilsner is still a hoppy beer but it is more easy going. One should therefore expect the bitterness of hops, but also more pleasant (but subtle) flavor profiles are given a chance to come through. This Harrington’s pilsner is promising gooseberry aromas and peachy/apricot flavors. We’ll see. Pilsners also tend to have a dry finish, which basically means a crisp finish rather than a sweet lingering finish. Let’s see if this is the case.

Price: $4.99 500mils

Alcohol content: 5%

Colour: A lovely bright golden colour. A lot more pale than an IPA which tends towards a browny/orangy gold. This is very pale. Slightly cloudy. Not much bubbles.

Aroma: Sweet to smell. Honey and peaches.  

Palate: It’s fizzy. Feels light and refreshing in the mouth. You pick up the bitterness and grassy flavour of the hops straight away and then lovely hints of tropical fruit. 

Finish: The contrast when it comes to the finish between this pilsner and the Epic Pale Ale from last week is quite remarkable. While the flavors of the Epic Pale Ale linger, with the pilsner the bitterness drops off straight away, closely followed by the sweetness of fruit. And then it’s gone. It is a clean and dry finish and a part of what makes a pilsner such a refreshing beer.

On the Chart: On the chart we’re in the hoppy and simple quadrant. Here the continuum between hops and malt on the chart doesn’t quite work. The Epic Pale Ale from last week was more hoppy than this pilsner but also had unmistakable caramel malt flavors in the mix. And so, while the pilsner is placed on the chart as being less hoppy than the Epic Pale Ale, it is not more malty. You don’t pick up any malt flavors in this pilsner. This of course make it less complex but also potentially more of a refreshing beer.

Conclusion: I’ve not drunk a lot of Harrington’s but I have most of their premium range at one stage or another. They genuinely are a more affordable craft beer but, at least in regards to this Rogue Hop NZ Pilsner, that doesn’t mean you are getting a second rate beer. This pilsner is on point; delicious and refreshing with the sweetness coming from the fruitiness of the hops rather than the caramel sugars of malt. I’d happily recommend this to anyone looking to sample a pilsner, especially after a great days fishing and with a plate of fresh Snapper. 

Friday Craft Beer Review: Epic’s Pale Ale

Epic is a well-regarded Auckland based NZ brewery. Their most awarded beer is there Pale Ale. Essentially it is brewed in the style of an American Pale Ale, but they refer to it as their Epic Pale Ale. It’s their signature beer and for many enthusiasts is the standard “go-to” when it comes to craft beers. If this is an American Pale Ale though, what about an Indian Pale Ale? What’s the difference between APAs and IPAs? What even is an IPA?

So firstly, what is an IPA? Throughout history beer has mainly been brewed dark; brown through to black basically. Malts were dried over wood burning ovens and the result was nearly always smoky, roasty and toasty. About 300 years ago this changed. Clean burning coal allowed roasters a far greater degree of control when it came to roasting malts. Lightly roasted malts meant pale through to golden beers could be brewed, each with slightly different flavors. A whole would of delicious possibilities opened up. The Pale Ale took of in England and not content to drink this only on the mainland, England set about shipping this around her Empire. Especially to India. That’s always been England’s way, importing and exporting, shipping things around the world. Well at least up until Brexit. Now they’re building a wall.

While stouts and porters, the more traditional dark beers, survived the trip to India, pale ales didn’t travel so well and were prone to age horribly. In order to help the pale ale make the trip, extra hops were added to stabilize and preserve the beer, and the alcohol content upped a little. And there you have it; India Pale Ales or IPAs. They’re a deep golden color and have plenty of hops, but also the malt flavor comes through nicely. They also tend to have a slightly higher alcohol content. Tuatara’s Indian Pale Ale is a fantastic example of the traditional IPA (and quite different to the Double Trouble from a couple of weeks ago).

With craft beer brewing taking off throughout the States in the 1980’s, brewers started to play around with the standard IPA. Different types of hops and malts and different combinations meant no shortage of possibilities. With all sorts of variations also came a more standard form of American Pale Ale. While you’ll still pick up the malt in an APA, the hop factor has been turned up a notch. This means more floral flavors and more fruitiness; stone fruit, citrus, lychee etc. This is what we should expect in Epic’s Pale Ale, a more hoppy version of a standard IPA. If you put the Epic Pale Ale alongside Tuatara's IPA one time you'll notice the difference.

In saying all of that though, there are so many IPAs and APAs out there now that it isn’t always possible to tell them apart as brewers have different interpretations of each. It can be a pretty mixed bag. You’ve also got people brewing Pacific Pale Ales and even TPPAs (Trans-Pacific Pale Ale). So best of luck.

Ok, the Epic...

Price: $7.99 500mls

Alcohol content: 5.4%

Colour: It’s golden for sure, but it is dark.

Aroma: Fruity and also herbaceous, burnt raisins and grass.

Palate: Refreshing, sweet, fruity. Maybe passion-fruit and nectarine and lime. Raisins for sure.

Finish: Great finish. Sweet fruit gives way to bitter flavors of lemon grass and pine. Sits in your mouth long afterwards. 

On the Chart: The hops certainly overpower the malts in Epic’s Pale Ale. But the malt still comes through nicely. There is plenty of complexity with different flavors on display. The fruit and herbs of the hops as well as the sweet raisin like toffy of the malts. We end up landing towards the hop end with a good amount of complexity.

Conclusion: Epic’s Pale Ale is a great example of craft beer. As you work your way through the bottle you can taste both the hops and the malt coming through, each giving way to the other at times. This means all sorts of secondary flavors and the chance to ponder whether they are coming from the hops or the malt.

Next week we'll have a look at a pilsner.   

Friday Craft Beer Review: Garage Project’s Aro Noir

My intention this week was to review a beer that was extreme when it came to malts and with no hoppiness. I’m not sure the Aro Noir will be that, but it looked to interesting to pass by. Its a beer brewed by Garage Project, another Wellington based brewery, and I always find it hard to pass by a Garage Project beer once I read the label. GP started small but is now one of New Zealand’s favourite craft breweries. They make some of the most interesting and unusual beers I’ve tasted. We'll still have a chat about malts though and then see what happens. 

What are malts? Malts are the end product of processed cereal grains. Cereal grains, most commonly barley, are allowed to start germinating (through soaking in water) but then have the germination process halted when the grain is removed from water and oven dried or roasted. Malting the grains turns the cereal starch into sugar, which in the fermentation process then becomes alcohol.

Most of the colour in beer comes from the malts. Lightly roasted malts produce a beer that is more pale in colour, while malts that have been roasted longer produce darker beers. We'll look more at this next Friday. Many beers are brewed with multiple malts, each varying in colour and flavour profile which influences the final product. Most beers seek to balance the sweetness of malt with the bitterness of hops. Obviously though, there are no shortage of possible combinations, and this no shortage of beer possibilities. As you move from light beers (lightly roasted malts) to dark beers (more heavily roasted malts) its normal to note flavours such as caramel, toffy, marmite, chocolate, coffee, burnt sugar, and even blackberry begin to take over. 

Dark beers tend to be a hearty drink that is savoured while golden beers tend to be lighter and more thirst quenching. Traditionally then, dark beers like stouts and porters, tend to appeal more on cold winter nights than they do in the middle of summer around the BBQ. Each to their own though. There are no rules.

Ok, so Garage Projects Aro Nor.

Price: $4.99 330mls

Alcohol content: 7%

Colour: Deep black with a macchiato like head. More bubbles than I was expecting too.

Aroma: Smells delicious, a lot like the burnt chewy pieces of beef roast that end up stuck to the bottom of the roasting dish. Hints of coffee and plums.  

Palate: It’s yum. Tastes like a shot of espresso, a juicy bite of rib roast and golden syrup. There is some fizz to it as well.

Finish: The finish is lovely. At first there is a hoppy bitterness, you can't mistake it, and then a kind of roasting dish toffee kicks in. It’s a nice combination.

On the Chart: I was meaning to review a beer that was big on malt and light on hops. This is malty alright, but not light on hops. It is a malty black beer but the combination of Columbus and Summit hops make it something more. It’s a really good example of a dark beer made more complex because of the hops used. So while it is still in the malty quadrant it isn't extreme, more to the middle as the hops come through. I need to also acknowledge the complexity of the hops and also the coffee/toffee/burnt beef flavors that come through.

Conclusion: It is delicious even though not what I'm normally looking for in a stout. If  I’m drinking a dark beer I’m normally looking for a full blown malts, chocolate and coffee, almost a milkshake. I don’t need any hops. However, the Aro Noir achieves the brief on the can and brings hops into a stout really well. This makes it really interesting. It's not a black IPA but you get that sense It would be perfect if you are looking for a black beer that is more balanced with interesting bitterness rather than being a full on chocolate or treacle thick shake. 

Next week we'll have a look at an IPA. Or is it an APA? What's the difference anyway?

Friday Craft Beer Review: Tuatara's Double Trouble

I thought it would be cool to review a craft beer once a week.

Mainly just for my own records. There are so many different crafts beers to choose from. This will help me remember which one’s I’ve had, which one’s I liked and which ones I didn’t.

At the same time, you might find something you’d like and you might be able to recommend something worth trying.

So here is a bit of an introduction.

I’m a reader. If I’m into something, I’ll often take the time to find a couple of good articles or even a book I can read on; “current subject of interest.” I like to give myself a bit of a heads-up. The theory helps me better understanding what’s happening in practice, and of course, what is happening in practice helps make sense of the theory. This means I’ve read all sorts of books, books on; golf, marathon running, weight training, stray lining for snapper, bonsai trees, coffee, pipe tobacco, vegetable gardens, wine, and so on. Taking the time to do a little research makes a big difference when it comes to understanding, enjoyment and participation. You don’t have to be an expert, it’s just nice not to be clueless. A little bit of knowledge goes a long way. This is certainly the case when it comes to craft beer. 

While I can’t claim to be a fountain of craft-beer-knowledge, I’m not hopeless. I used to be. I used to wonder why anyone would want to wreck beer and make it “crafty.” Now though, I can’t work out why anyone would bother to pop-the-top on a regular beer?

It seems that craft beer is pretty “in vogue” at the moment, more truthfully, beer has mostly always been “craft beer.” Throughout history beer has always been brewed locally, in small batches, with local varieties of hops and barley, and according to flavour profiles appealing to local consumers. Travelling from town to town, or even from tavern to tavern, you’d discover beer varied immensely. It was a “cottage” industry and all beer was literally “craft beer.” With the dawn of the industrial age most of this changed. Beer could now be mass produced. Factories and machinery took over and the “art” of brewing lost out to the “business” of brewing. The corporation decided to tell us what we were to like when it came to beer and most people were none-the-wiser. What’s in vogue at the moment is really a craft-beer-come-back. While it started in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, now it is a phenomenon. People are discovering that less is more. Which is my motto when it comes to beer; don’t drink a lot, just drink something awesome! It seems at the moment, that if it can be brewed then someone is brewing it; everything from deep dark curry stouts, to golden pale ales withmango, mint and chilli. Now we’re talking!

Each time I review a beer I’ll try and do a few things…

1. I’ll try and place it on a chart that offers a sense of where it fits next to other beers. It will end up being a flawed system as there are so many different types of beers and trying to relate them all to each other may be impossible. I think it could be helpful though. My chart will set hops against malt, and also complexity against simplicity.

2. With each review I’ll try and explain a particular feature of beer. I.e. in this first review I’ll try and explain hops. At least as I understand it. With this in mind, I’ll also try in the first reviews to look at beers that sit out on the extremes of the chart, malt, complexity and also simplicity. 

3. If I’m not explaining an aspect of the beer flavor, I’ll try and explain a type of beer. What is a stout, a red, an IPA, an APA, a pilsner?

4. I’ll try and post each review on a Friday so that you can get your hands on a bottle and give it a try over the weekend. This one is a day early.

5. I’ll try and actually do the above!

So up first, Tuatara’s Double Trouble; Extra Dimensional American Pale Ale.

Tuatara is a Wellington based brewery and one of the most well-known brewers of craft beer in New Zealand. Even their bottles are easily identified. Their bottle neck features a depiction of the scales and spine of New Zealand's famous native lizard, the Tuatara.

I’ve chosen to review the Double Trouble for two reasons. Firstly, it was my favourite craft beer for a while and secondly because when it comes to hops, few beers are as “hoppy” as the Double Trouble.

What are hops? The “hops” used in beer are the flowers (or seed cones) of the hop plant. They are used to stabilize and preserve beer and also to balance the sweetness of the malt in beer. Hops are what makes a beer bitter and also provide the different flavour and aroma profiles at times described as grassy, zesty, spicy, lemony, citrus like, or floral. It all depends on the type(s) of hops used in the brewing process.

In craft beer world a scale is used to measure the bitterness of a beer. It’s called the International Bittering Units scale (IBU). The Tuatara Double Trouble is rated a 167! To put it in perspective a standard IPA is just over 40 and yet a beer where you would expect some bitter tasting notes to come through. So when it comes to the Double Trouble expect it to be bitter! 167 is mental, but that’s why I’m starting with this beer, to highlight the “hops” factor. I’ll try and explain an IPA and an APA another time. Now it’s time to pop-the-top and have a taste.

Price: $11.99 for 500mls (This makes it one of the more expensive NZ craft beers).

Alcohol content: 9% (IPA’s and APA’s traditionally have a higher alcohol content. In the case of the Double Trouble I think Tuatara just wanted to make it an all-round big beer. So use common sense please. 500mls is 3.6 standard drinks).

Colour: Golden but off set with a touch of cloudiness that gives it a slightly brown hue.

Aroma: Sweet and floral. Not floral in the sense of flowers or perfume though, rather more like floral in the sense of having just weed-wacked everything that might even be a little bit over grown in the back yard.

Palate: A very sweet beer with lovely citrus / herb like notes. Sweet and savoury. Lovely to swirl around in your mouth.

Finish: The finish is what makes this beer. When it comes to IBU, 167 is massive and the swallow and aftertaste of bitterness in this beer is off the charts! The bitterness of the aftertaste sticks around for ages and you’re left with no doubt as to the “hoppy” side of craft beer. There is a slightly sweet malty taste left in your mouth but it is incredibly subtle. There is also know hiding the high alcohol content, it is kind of obvious. 

On the Chart: The Double Trouble is a fine example of a very hoppy beer. What subtle malt flavours you might pick up don't tone it down in the slightest. At the same time it is certainly not watery in any way. There is depth and flavour all the way though. The complexity of this beer is the hops though rather than hints of tropical fruit, spice, etc. With that in mind, I'll place it all the way out to the left but right on the line. 

Conclusion: Tuatara has nailed it, but in nailing it they’ve likely created a beer that is pretty polarizing. If you aren’t used to hops, you’ll find the finish overwhelming and it’ll potentially put you off ever trying a craft beer. What you have to appreciate is that this beer sits out at one end of the scale, the hop scale. Others, we’ll find, are a little more balanced. So while it used to be a favourite, ultimately I found it too expensive and too bitter. But still awesome!