Beer Stockade Brew Co Mr Fruju NEIPA

In the few short years since Australian brewers discovered New England style IPAs, the trend has been explored and experimented with and altered and adapted, and finally found a spot in the regular lineup of a number of well-respected breweries. Mr Fruju fits comfortably in Stockade’s range of fruity hop-driven beers.

Mr Fruju’s haze isn’t the opaque blur of some NEIPAs, but more like sun-infused mist settling on a tropical island. The friendly face of an island totem on the can is made up of pieces of fruit, telling the drinker what flavours to expect - passionfruit eyes, a pear nestled in the headdress, pineapple slices for ears, and a wedge of nondescript citrus forming a cheeky grin. This isn’t a beer designed to surprise, but to refresh and relax; even the bitterness takes the day off with this one.

Stockade’s descriptor of “freshly squeezed like a breakfast juice” isn’t far off the mark, but this smooth fruit medley may be less suited to the morning meal and more to a sunny afternoon in a hammock.

Mick Wust