Five Barrel has toyed with New England style IPAs occasionally over the last year or so, but they’ve never muddied the metaphorical waters quite like this. Milkshake IPA is hazy and hoppy but also creamy and smooth – a NEIPA made with lactose.
The aroma here is pungent with pineapple, mango and other punchy fruits of the tropical variety, which combine in a manner reminiscent of some forgotten fruity soft drink from your childhood. On the palate it’s just as full on the fruit front, lots of citrus with just a faint zippy feel of sherbet fizz. There’s a smoothness here you don’t necessarily get with a lot of NEIPAs – the work of the lactose. If you were to imagine flavours and sensations as tools, bitterness would be represented as a jagged edged rasp, lactose a tub of putty used to fill holes and level the finish.
There’s a degree of thickness to it too – not thickshake thickness, more like a dash of puree. With its hot pink label and foggy facade, you can’t help but think Milkshake IPA is a beer that’s perfectly packaged for the Instagram generation. Fortunately it happens to front up on flavour too.
Nick Oscilowski
Published June 29, 2018 2018-06-29 00:00:00
