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woensdag 16 januari 2013

Hopwired (8 Wired Brewing Co.)

"There is no finer gift than books"
--some great man whose name eludes me

You know where this is going, don't you?

"But beer will do just fine thank you."
--me

Sharing beers with buddies is always fun and rewarding, and when my colleague-buddy Bert generously donated a spiffy bottle of New Zealand brew, I was grinning like a madman.
Now I'm actually tasting it, it feels like the corners of my mouth have met at the back of my head.

What a truly sensational, spectacular brew this is!

From the lusciously thick golden pour, to the delicate carbonation, this screams IPA to the unaware, and whispers sweet promises to the initiated.
A nose full of fruits and rainforesty thingies, pineapple juice, sweet and fragrant white grapes, lemongrass even, a hint of that soapy quality that makes cask UK ales such a delight, perfectly calibrated passion fruit, and a hint of sweet orange and tangerines. Really, this beer smells unlike anything I've ever had.

Wait, maybe a bit like this, if it were a beer.

The grape-and-passion-fruit thing really grabs you by the nose and pulls you in. What a wonderfully fragrant beer!

Aromas are sublimely understated when compared to the nose. Make no mistake: this is no boozefest brew, and demands the drinker's full attention, but it's evident how easily this beer could turn tiresome in the mouth. But it doesn't: the onset is gentle, like the slow incline just before the rollercoaster's first plunge. A bit of bitterness right up front, which is unsual, and swiftly supported by that solid sweet malt undercurrent which makes IPA such a great style. And just when the mouth starts to wonder, the aromas kick in. Passion fruit again, and grapes, sure, in a vibrant fireworks of delightfull fruity hoppiness. Think Cascade hops, only slightly more restrained on the grapefruit angle and heading full whack for tropical fruits. A nice bitter, lingering aftertaste takes you home again, literally gagging for the next sip.

While this sounds like a massive flavour bomb, I should reiterate how remarkably balanced and drinkable this beer is, considering the stunning amount of flavour and impressions it packs. It is never, at any single point, tiresome, or "too much" of anything.

New Zealand (and by extension the entire Pacific) is to the brewing world what the USA was fifteen years ago: a place where boundaries are being pushed. Not just out of cock-sure "what you do yourself you do best" chauvinism, but, if this beer is any measure, out of genuine love for the product, its ingredients, and the country from which they hail. Hopwired, as the label proudly boasts, is brewed with Kiwi-grown produce only, and from my understanding is a perfect example of what New Zealand hops are all about. Where the USA-born C-hops introduced us to citrus in all its myriads variations, NZ-hops (like the Motueka and Southern Cross used here) throw the shutters and let the tropics in. Oh and those delicious grapes...Nelson Sauvin, I see you!



A blog featuring New Zealand needs a picture of a kiwi.
Comparisons, just for the sake of it.
Few Belgian beers I know have such a phenomenal range of hop-aromas on display. I'll settle for Troubadour Magma again, which I think is Belgium's best known IPA-style beer at the moment. Magma's aromas are (if I'm correct) mostly Simcoe, which is comparable to Cascade, and slightly more monocline than Hopwired's Nelson-and-Motueka profile, but if you like the Magma, than I'm betting bucks that you'll love the Hopwired.
Brewdog's Hardcore IPA also comes to mind, simply because it doesn't hold a candle to the Hopwired's stately balance. I really like the Hardcore, don't get me wrong, but Brewdog sometimes need to learn to tuck their balls away instead of having them on full display all the time.

Eternal gratitude to Bert for not only scoring me some NZ-beer just when I'm trying to get my hands on something not-Belgian, but specifically for scoring me this. If you ever see a bottle of this brew lying around, don't hesitate.

Beer: Hopwired
Brewery: 8 Wired (really, look at those brews!)
Style: IPA
ABV: 7.3%
EBU: 70
EBC: 14
Served: 500ml bottle



Greetz

Jo

2 opmerkingen:

Anoniem zei

Glad you liked it :)

Unknown zei

"Like" is an understatement. Now I need to find a way to reciprocate in style :)