While Red Duck do have some hoppy beers in their range (the Bengal IPA, Hoppy Amber, for example), they're generally a brewery that explores the beer world in other ways, whether with malt-led numbers, experiments without hops or blending meads and strong ales. With this one beer they could be seen to redress the balance in one fell swoop. Concocted with 25 different hop varieties in conjunction with visiting Danish brewer Anders Kissmeyer earlier in the year, it's a nigh-on ten per cent Imperial IPA. Brewer Scott Wilson-Browne says it wasn't a case of just throwing any hops at it, rather "for this bitter sweet harmony, we carefully picked as many as worked together, some for bittering only, some in aroma, and a few for both. All of the aroma hops, and two of the bittering hops were also used in dry hopping later on." The result is silky smooth, with a bitterness that belies its parts and with the hops nicely balanced by the malt. A beer to sit alongside those big US imports, yet crafted in conjunction with a Dane in Ballarat. Just 650 bottles.
Published July 27, 2012 2012-07-27 00:00:00
