Balter's tour of the US via some of their favourite American breweries – AKA their second year-long "Mouth Holiday" – has added a second stamp to their passport. This time around, after dropping a hazy IPA with Cloudburst, they've joined forces with Evan Price of Green Cheek to create a California IPA: "something unique that neither of us could do all on our own", according to the accompanying notes.
In said notes, Evan summarises his brewery's approach to IPA: "We make a certain style of IPA that is dry, that is crisp, that doesn't have any colour malt in it to get in the way. It is really a vessel to allow hops to be at the forefront."
He joined Balter head brewer Scotty Hargrave at their Gold Coast brewery to indulge in a spot of hop selection – going bag by bag, lot by lot, to find the most punchy in the house. And it doesn't take long to surmise they achieved their combined goal.
The waves / layers (you decided which to go for) of fruity hop flavours are juicy and rounded without being flabby, pack the potency of essential oils rubbed into your palms from a freshly plucked cone at harvest time, are candied on the one hand, lean and a little herbal on the other, and all come delivered in liquid as smooth as a sine wave. Dry and only mildly bitter, it’s as disappearable* a 7 percenter as you’ll find disappearing from your glass this year.
When I texted my colleague, Will, halfway through a glass to say how good the beer was, I got a simple reply: "I'm on my second can!"**
James Smith
*Yeah, it's a new word. So what?
**See: disappearable.
For more on the collab, check out this short film.
Published August 2, 2023 2023-08-02 00:00:00
