Any observer of the local beer world in recent years will be aware of how things have been moving in the world of IPA – at least if you ignore the ever-widening style's more esoteric realms of milkshakes and sourness. And it's generally been a move towards greater fruitiness, lesser malt character, lower bitterness and softer finishes. Clearly, the Slumdog Brewing team decided to go against the grain.
Their core range IPA sits firmly in double IPA territory when it comes to ABV and shares way more in common with American IPAs of a generation or two before than those of today. Sure, darling-of-the-2020s Mosaic is part of the hop mix, adding some candied berries to the mix, but it feels like the Cascade and Citra – not to mention the Crystal and Munich malts – have the greater impact.
Pouring deep copper, the sticky specialty malts give the citrus a kind of stewed character before pretty quickly giving way to a broad, lingering and no-holds-barred by today's standards piney bitterness. An IPA to put hairs on your chest.
James Smith
