They can never get enough hops at Dainton, with the Melbourne brewery’s desire to showcase the thrill of the little green beasts never slowing. Maybe the most thrilling of them all is “Maxx Hopps”, the fire-jumping daredevil on the brewery’s NEIPA, Lupe de Lupe. The beer has brewed in collaboration with Hop Products Australia and is one of a dozen beers in the hop supplier’s packs that are available from Beer Cartel. Crack into it and you may well wonder if a tin of pineapple has been opened in the same room with the combination of LUPOMAX Citra, Ekuanot, Huell Melon, Mosaic and Sabro providing that flavour in a heavy dose. Joining it are further tropical hints of rockmelon, peach and orange in a beer that might be soft and smooth but isn't quite as thick as some NEIPAs.
What is about as thick a NEIPA as you’ll find is the brewery's collaboration with CoConspirators, The Associates. At 8 percent ABV, the beer is incredibly lush while packing a huge hit of flavours into its lush body thanks to the varied mix of Nelson Sauvin, El Dorado, Mosaic, Citra, Galaxy. If you were one of the 1980s businessmen on the can, you could likely spend all of one of your many long business lunches dissecting it, then use one of your many watercooler chats (seriously, office culture in the 20th century looked pretty cruisy) to unpick it some more.
You don't have that kind of luxury in the modern world (although we do have better phones) but included in its rich body are overripe mango, guava, strawberry and a very resinous and dank finish.
Will Ziebell
*By the way, if you're a member of our good beer club, The Crafty Cabal, November 24 is the last day you can enter the competition to get your hands on one of three Lupomax packs.
Published November 24, 2021 2021-11-24 00:00:00
