Hargreaves Hill's brewers continue to experiment with different means of delivering fruitiness to your cakehole via another double release that arrives hot on the heels of their 0 and 100 IBU IPAs. Unlike their immediate predecessors, they're not designed as a pair but they do share a fondness for a fair bit of excess.
Whirlpool Pilsner gives much, but not all, of the game away in its title: here's a pilsner in which they've focused on adding the hops – and some French oak chips – at the whirlpool stage. They opted for a combo I don't recall seeing before – Hallertau Blanc, Mandarina Bavaria, Nelson Sauvin and Enigma – and describe the level of hopping as a "stunning amount".
What that means for you is an ingot gold liquid with a fluffy white head that's rather reminiscent of Knappstein, right down to the hop-oily texture, thanks to the distinctive impact of the Nelson. There's more besides: melon, grapes, something more grassy and herbal too. Said "stunning" hopping regime and, presumably, some assistance from the oak chips ensure the body is fuller and the underlying sweetness at a level where you wouldn’t call it a crisp pilsner, more a new world offering in which the bitterness is charged with delivering the requisite quench.
Celestial Fuzz is an imperial IPA into which they poured peach and apricot alongside Sabro, Cashmere and Azzaca hops. It arrives as if served with a side of sweet, fluffy, iced passionfruit sponge, remains stickily fruity throughout, and leans towards the sweeter end of the vast IPA spectrum to the point I’d even be tempted to try it poured over a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
James Smith
Published October 31, 2023 2023-10-31 00:00:00
