Late in 2021, Hop Nation unveiled a new look and feel for their offshoot, Site Fermentation Project. Following in the footsteps of Syrah sour red and Oud Bruin is a beer that seems to follow a different approach altogether: 2022’s first Site beer is a barrel-aged IPA that’s been finished on pear juice.
IPA and barrels aren't normally closely associated but here the idea has been to marry fruit-forward hop notes with the complexity of Brett as well as time with fruit in barrels. The beer was also inoculated with three different strains of Brett yeast and spent two years ageing in bourbon barrels before pear juice was added and the beer re-fermented.
The result is a sour IPA that’s particularly heavy on fresh fruit flavours; while pear leads the way and stands tallest, there are more tropical characters of passionfruit and rockmelon. Those are also joined by lime and grapefruit that balances against beer’s lingering acidity, while a fair bit of weight on the palate and a level of richness that accompanies the beer's 8.1 percent ABV helps keep that tartness in check. Add in a little funk and you've got an IPA unlike the vast majority on the market, not to mention a barrel-aged beer that's not like too many others of its ilk either.
Will Ziebell
Published February 21, 2022 2022-02-21 00:00:00
