Damn this stuff is bitter. I mean coat the top of your mouth make you pull a funny face, still in the back of your throat an hour later bitter. It makes even the most intense American hop bomb taste like a pint of mild. It's hard to see the point of it. I read a while back that plenty of rich malts were used to balance the intense hopping in this lightweight beer, and at the time this intrigued me. Was it possible to add that much hops to a beer of a mere 3.5% and make it any way balanced? The answer's no. The hops are so intense they burn, and the body gives up long before it has a chance to contribute anything. It does smell amazing though, and the pungent hops would make you think that you are in for a big heavy hitting alcoholic hop bomb.
Care should be taken when drinking this beer. After I finished the bottle I was ravenous despite having my dinner shortly before. The intense bitterness stimulated my appetite ferociously, and I found myself raiding the fridge before bed for just about anything I could get my hands on. Not one for the diet conscious.
I didn't enjoy it, but as an experiment this beer is superb. It highlights everything that is right with the new breed of craft brewer at work today.
