Ding dong merrily on bloody high, it’s a One Drop Christmas. To be honest, I’m a little unsure if One Drop Claus has put me on the naughty or nice list this year. Under my Christmas tree, I’ve got a little West Coast IPA all wrapped in cute Australian animal-themed wrapping paper, a lovely-looking stocking that appears to be leaking a viscous purple liquid, and a large, nondescript cardboard box that appears to only contain orange fairy floss.
A few weeks ago I suggested that there might have been a brain-eating parasite at work amongst the One Drop brewers. With this release of a second fairy floss-laden sour beer I’ve never been more sure that the brain worms are running the show now. This Fairy Floss Sour is dosed with pineapple and mandarin juice and a million boxes of fairy floss sugar. On the nose is pineapple candy, Cottee’s Fruit Cup cordial and a smidge of vanilla. The palate is where this really gets interesting. Amongst the orange sherbet and ice cream, there’s the unmistakable flavour of Aperol. The slightly sweet but bitter orange character brings more complexity and structure than I ever could have predicted such a silly beer to have. The worms have absolutely nailed it.
Drinkers of Vibration Positive are probably experiencing one of their first ever encounters with jabuticaba. Jabuticaba is a grape like purple-skinned fruit that grows directly on the trunk of the jabuticabeira tree in central South America. The flesh itself is actually white or pink and the flavour is similar to muscadine grapes. For this double fruited sour beer, One Drop have paired the jabuticaba with blueberries and vanilla.
Vibration Positive pours a thick deep purple with a rapidly evaporating head. Obviously, there’s a big hit of blueberries but I also detect raspberry, lemon and grape bubblegum. On tasting there’s a really good hit of acidity and sweetness like a berry coulis served with vanilla ice cream.
It might seem weird saving a West Coast IPA for dessert, but I see this bad boy as a special little treat just for me. Three Cubed features a trio of tried and true American hops jammed in and around a lean and mean malt base for a classic West Coast tipple. This time we’ve got one of my all-time favourites Centennial in a ménage à trois with Citra and Mosaic.
Pour this out properly and you’re looking at the Platonic ideal of the West Coast IPA. Crystal clear golden hue with a big rocky off white head that leaves lacing for days. I reckon you probably know the drill here: orange peel and grapefruit flesh, ripe mango pulp layered over pine needles, salt cracker malt and a drop of honeyed sweetness. Bitterness wise, there’s not quite the big old school bitter bite from hot side hopping, which means its not a mouth-coasting resinousness but more of a long-lasting background hum. Hark!
Judd Owen
Published December 16, 2022 2022-12-16 00:00:00
