Sometimes a helmet just isn’t enough to provide protection. That’s particularly true in spring, where one of life’s truly cruel twists of fate sees the season where conditions are perfect for exploring the world on a bike coincide with the moment when magpies really like to take aim at cyclists. Sure, they’re only protecting their young but you’ve got to protect yourself too; get some glasses or cable ties onto that helmet, ride through the sun and hope for the best. You could also protect yourself by ensuring you haven't drunk any alcohol and by enjoying something like Hop Nation’s Mind Your Head. The alcohol-free XPA follows the brewery’s Daisy that was released in September 2021 and being dry hopped with Simcoe, Vic Secret and Galaxy, it provides many of the familiar cues you'll find in many a modern XPA. The pale and straw-coloured release provides a punch of passionfruit, pine and some floral flavours for the kind of park beer you can enjoy many of while still getting home safely. Well, hopefully anyway - danger lurks above.*
Maybe once you finish that ride home, you might like to jump into Walk Between Raindrops, a hazy IPA that also features Vic Secret, though this time around it’s joined by CryoPop; a relatively new hop product that features a blend to create a wide and varied tropical mix. Though hazy IPAs can be known for being particularly lush, smooth and even at times rich, this one's far more nimble and quite light on the palate. The result is an easy-drinking 6.0 percent ABV springboard for those fruits flavours to launch off, with lots of lychee, papaya and pineapple all banding together before being joined by pine and a zesty zing of grapefruit.
Will Ziebell
*Hop Nation are also minding the environment with the beer's release, with the brewery donating every dollar from the first 100 cases sold online and at the brewery to fund native tree planting in partnership with the Sunshine Reserve Committee and Planet Ark's Seedling Bank. Their goal is more than 1,400 saplings nationwide and you can grab a case here.
Published November 8, 2021 2021-11-08 00:00:00
