About once a year, I give a beer a two-syllable “damn”.* I believe I’m due.
Day-um!
After a year of absence – and longer still since a technical difficulty delayed the canning date by a couple of weeks – Zeus is back.
Brewer Jake Harrison has updated the recipe to give Zeus a facelift. But when that facelift includes a lineup of all-American classic “C” hops – Chinook, Columbus, Centennial – and a mash tun bursting at the seams with specialty malts, it’s hard to know whether to describe it as an update or a downdate.
However you think of it, Zeus is more thunderous than ever. Burnt caramel and the thickest freaking resin I’ve had in a while. Even for a double West Coast IPA, this is an intense beer: enough caramel malt to fill the mouth and give a deep copper colour, a bitter herbal finish, and some alcohol heat to remind you of Zeus’ explosive temper.
You can hear Jake's thought process on bringing back Zeus in this brew day video, then follow up with his thoughts on the finished product.** And, unless I had a stroke in the middle of that second video, I believe Jake says the phrase “technical groobies.”
I think you’ve had enough Zeus for now, Jake.
Mick Wüst
* OK, turns out I don’t do this as often as I thought. Apparently I’ve only done it twice: once in 2021, and once in 2022. I’ll leave you to find them for yourself.
** Great minds think alike. In 2018 I said Zeus was “almost bordering on barleywine territory” and I called the cryo-hopped version in 2021 “the beer that’ll drive you to take that nap”. I know the recipe’s changed, but: Jake, we are in sync, buddy. I even had a little nap after drinking my Zeus, too. Well, maybe less a “little nap” and more a “several hours of sleep”. It was well past midnight when I drank it. A much more appropriate time to drink a DIPA than in the middle of a work day, Mr Harrison.
Published Today 2024-11-07 00:00:00
