There’s obviously much love for IPA variants in Forster, with The Coastal Brewing Co regularly finding new ways to explore hops, as these three beers demonstrate. Bo Bo IPA is named after for the Bo Bo Creek, while the name also alludes to the blood orange purée added to the beer. The brewery also used Nectaron and Citra Cryo hops in to push out a huge amount of citrus flavour, which sits somewhere between fresh orange juice and grapefruit. With lactose, flaked and malted oats all in the mix too, it’s a velvety ride that’s presumably a lot easier to cross than an actual creek.
Another smooth crossing from Coastal is Mungo Mango IPA, which also includes lactose but is more about showcasing mango. It does that with actual mango, of course, but the Citra and Mosaic hops provide not just rich lashings of mango but candied orange and further tropical touches too.
Very Bonny NEIPA is the fourth in the brewery’s “Very” series of beers, which kicked off with Very Crowdy. This beer uses the same base of lactose and oats before being heavily hopped with Galaxy, Simcoe and Mosaic to create a beer that’s awash with passionfruit, mango and overripe pawpaw.
In short, you've got three beers with a vibe that make you wonder whether Forster is somehow a whole lot closer to the equator than a map would suggest.
Will Ziebell
Published February 1, 2022 2022-02-01 00:00:00
