Bowden Brewing IPA

I'm not going to lie: when I worked my way through the Bowden core range in cans plus a selection of the limited releases out at the time we were compiling their listing for The Crafty Pint, I kept waiting for something NQR to come along and was still waiting at the end. When it comes to the core range, in particular, the brewers seemed to have decided to go for creating beers that sit in the sweet spot for a chosen style. And none more so than the IPA.

It's essentially a modern, 2020s take on a West Coast IPA. It's built upon a biscuity, almost caramel malt sweetness from which rises a perfume of candied berry-citrus hops elicited from some of the beer world's current favourite varieties, including Citra, Idaho #7, Mosaic and Simcoe. The bitterness isn't as pronounced as the West Coasts of old, but that doesn't detract from what's simply a very enjoyable beer.

James Smith