The brewers at Hargreaves Hill have been enjoying themselves with hops, particularly new varieties (or varieties new to them), in recent years. There's been the Topaz & Amarillo IPA (A.K.A. Melanie), Admiral Nelson IPA, C4 IPA and the recent Eldorado IPA list a few. With the most recent crop of US hops recently arrived in Australia, their back with another. This time they are showcasing varieties that play an important role in some of their core beers, Pale Ale and Extra Special Bitter. They have chosen Citra, Amarillo and Simcoe, combined them with a simple grain bill ' UK Golden Promise with a small percentage of Chocolate Malt ' and used them both at the various stages within the brewing process and then all three in "generous quantities" for dry hopping. According to head brewer Simon Walkenhorst: "The result is a beer which exhibits fresh and vibrant hop character, with a sweetly tart hop flavour from the Citra and Simcoe. The perceived bitterness is not overpowering, but builds pleasantly through the drinking of a pint. The palate character of the hops is tropical and citrusy, as you would expect, but very vibrant owing to the outstanding harvest, and also the freshness of the hops."
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