May 2021 sees Otherside release a quartet of flavour forward, bigger ABV beers, handily timed to arrive at the exact moment West Coast temperatures started dropping.
One of them is the latest appearance for a beer with a considerable cult following, so much so it could be released during a February heatwave and likely still be voraciously consumed. Sabbath started as a stout that was pastry. The following year it was a pastry stout that seemed closer to stout. And, for its third annual outing, Sabbath 2021 owns its intention, swirling with layered Jersey caramel fudge, hedgehog slice (sans coconut), vanilla soft serve, Ferrero Rocher and Bourneville hints before proving not all pastry stouts need an insulin pairing as the creamy palate resolves dry.
Sugar Maple RIS takes the same level of inventiveness into the rich, double digit booze arena by cold ageing the base beer on staves from sugar maple – the tree that produces maple syrup – for three months. Pouring black, there’s layers of Milo, milk chocolate, coffee, caramel, choc-coated liquorice bullets, subtle cola, and roast malt, with supporting stave texture and flashes of maple syrup.
WCNZIPA arrives equally as a frustratingly vowel-limited Scrabble draw and the latest in Otherside’s Juicy West Coast elan. Veiled IBUs and booze, a generous mellow mist, and masses of NZ tropical hop greenness create something juicy, bitter and crisp – just the way Otherside like their IPAs.
Which leaves RIIPA, which is hardly an afterthought. Its dark caramel and toffee malt body leads with subtle resin, slight alcohol warmth and a quiet bitterness, finishing dry. It’s not Double Harvest, nor Redliner, this RIIPA has its own appeal. That said, fans of those beers will be pleased too.
Guy Southern
Published May 7, 2021 2021-05-07 00:00:00
