Beer All Inn Brewing New School and Old School IPAs

I’m a sucker for a dual release, and this dynamic duo is All Inn’s first. I recommend you drink New School before Old School. Thematically it seems wrong, but flavour-wise it just makes sense.

New School East Coast Hazy IPA has a translucent glow, and features an aroma that seems to be a chorus of fruity hops and fruity yeast esters singing in unison. The flavours are an integrated blend of peach, orange and mandarin, with a soft zesty bitterness eventually building up. There’s something quite delicate about the way this beer feels in the mouth. It’s not thin, but it’s light, alighting on the tongue like a butterfly on your hand before fluttering off in same way.

Old School West Coast IPA is no butterfly. It’s a golden elixir that gives off a musky floral perfume – the kind you notice, the kind you remember, the kind that makes you turn around when you’re walking down the street to see who would be so confident as to wear such a bold scent. Then somehow the taste comes from a completely different angle. It’s deep and dank with some burnt caramel. Part of the bitterness carries a hint of grapefruit peel, but the rest of the bitterness doesn’t deign to attach itself to a fruit. It’s like chewing on pine needles or cannabis stems. Perhaps it’s somewhat rougher than you're used to. Perhaps it doesn’t sound like it’d be something you'd like to drink. And yet here we are, going back for more after each sip like we need the stuff to live.

Since the premise of this double feature is: “Just like how the music we listen to has changed, the beer style has evolved,” each beer has a QR code that takes you to a playlist of either old school or new school tunes. Can confirm the old school one is bangin’. I am not accepting new music at this time.

Mick Wüst