It can be easy to think of hazy IPA’s as all about the hops but without the right yeast, brewers wouldn’t have their precious biotransformation and drinkers would get to enjoy the distinct juicy notes they love. Hop Nation’s Tropicalé puts its yeast front and centre, with the brewery using White Lab’s variety of the same name (minus the little French hat on the E) which was designed to promote thiol release in beers. Importantly, that yeast isn’t genetically modified, which gives Australian brewers the ability to use it and here Hop Nation have paired it with Phantasm for further fragrance. It certainly offers a lot to the olfactory system too, with the incredibly pungent beer filled with one broad and quite complex mix that darts between passionfruit, white grape, nectarine, coconut and a touch of lime.
If that doesn’t give you quite enough lashing of fruit, Summer Sour might be your speed. The cucumber, mint and watermelon beer is a wonderfully well integrated summer sipper that's been soured twice. It means there's plenty of tang that runs through the beer while the herbal, fruit and vegetable additions all blend seamlessly and are a wonderful counter to Melbourne's continued humidity.
Will Ziebell
Published December 14, 2023 2023-12-14 00:00:00
