Philter take pride in making easy-drinking, sessionable beers, and they’ve built themselves a great reputation doing so. Head brewer Sam Füss isn’t a fan of huge bitterness herself, and the beers she makes encourage you to enjoy several in quick succession.
But that hasn’t stopped her from making this beautiful beast of a double IPA.
The aroma is all sweet comfort – tropical and citrus hops combine with golden syrup malts promising to give you a big, warm hug. But take a sip and you'll quickly find you're not drinking fruity golden syrup. As well as a boatload of flavour, the copious additions of hops – Idaho 7, Sabro, Citra, and Mosaic – have brought plenty of bite with them. Since hazies far and wide have brought the aggregate bitterness of IPAs down a few notches, here you’ll likely find the bitterest (yeah, I said bitterest) IPA you've had in a while; it’s resinous and grapefruitous (I'm just leaning into made-up words now) but still has the balance to treat you nicely.
This IIPA is the friendly Rottweiler that bounds up to you for a pat and knocks you on your butt. It's the spicy burger that makes your eyes water but is so delicious you keep going back for more.
And yet, at 7.7 percent ABV, it's at the easier end of IIPAs. It may not be a wise idea to drink these all night, but you can have more than one without regretting it.
Mick Wust
Published December 12, 2020 2020-12-12 00:00:00
