Earlier in the year, brewers from Stone & Wood headed to the Blue Mountains to brew with Mountain Culture. The result was the Backpack Hazy Pale. Now, with spring sprung, the return collab has arrived. Still bearing the Backpack name – a nod to both breweries' traveller-friendly locations – this time around the haze has gone (and then some – this is as bright a beer as you'll come across) and in its place is a West Coast IPA.
The appearance is an indicator of what awaits as the hop character drawn from the trans-Pacific quartet of Galaxy, Idaho 7, Mosaic and Amarillo could barely be brighter: it's well-defined tropi-citrus from the off, carried on a light base that drinks easier than you might expect from a 6 percent-plus ABV IPA. Even though it's very much a West Coast IPA for the 2020s, there's a hint of something deeper and more old school in the hops too, while bitterness is set for refreshment rather than potency.
In short, a tight, fruity and flab-free IPA.
James Smith
NB If you're reading this in time, you could win a case of the beer as we've got a few to give away to members of our beer club, The Crafty Cabal. Details here.
Published September 9, 2024 2024-09-09 00:00:00
