Timing can be a wonderful thing. A few short weeks ago, Hop Nation found out the second beer they ever brewed, The Buzz had secured a bronze medal at the prestigious World Beer Cup in America. Fortunately, the win came as they had been working to grow The Buzz Family, with the brewery dreaming up some fresh spins on the beer that happens to be a house favourite at The Crafty Pint (at this point, years have been spent debating whether the red or Rattenhund is Hop Nation’s finest drop).
This all brings us to the wonderfully named No Buzz; an alcohol-free version of the Hop Nation classic. Pouring a slightly lighter amber when compared with the rich ruby hue of the original, the boozeless version certainly keeps the same commitment to caramel and toffee tones from the malt. The hops meanwhile, are a mix of Australian and American and combine pine with peach and citrus for a beer that’s as saitsifying a non-alc as you find anywhere.
As the name alludes, Buzzed heads in an entirely different direction with the 8.0 percent ABV beer an imperial version of the classic red. Along with more booze, the brewery say they’ve added more of just about everything else too with the imperial blasting off with Eclipse, Sabro Cryo and Mosaic hops. Here, the resin and pine are dialled all the way up as mandarin, grapefruit, mango and further tropical notes all swirl into a decadent drop that's a little like freshly-melted toffee but where the richness is still balanced out by a dryer side.
Will Ziebell
Published May 10, 2024 2024-05-10 00:00:00
