An India Pale Ale (IPA)
A collaboration between Wicked Wine, Stefan Gustavsson and Sigtuna Brygghus 7.5% ABV. Systembolaget Article Number: 1419-01
A crystal clear orange/amber body with a thick, creamy puck of white head.
For a beer with 7 - that's right 7 - hop varieties the leafy nose on this beer is predictably huge but not as 'green' and fresh as in Amarillo Spring (another Swedish hop fav of mine). They're more thick, more musty and heavy hitting. Put it this way, if I was to put Mohawk in the ring with Amarillo Spring Mohawk would be George Foreman and AS would be Ali. Loads of spicy orange marmalade and a dash of that lime chutney you get with your popodoms at Indian restaurants. Surprisingly sweet malt smells coming through too.
There's not as much lemon/pineapple vibes as I would expect considering the abundance of US hop varieties. It's more spicy marmalade, some tropical fruit juice and then the hops, oh boy those hops come crashing in. I'm not talking fresh hop cones here but more intense, acidic, bitter hop pellets. Anyone who's chewed on one of these on a brewery tour will know exactly what I mean. This really needed every decimal point of its 7.5% ABV to carry off such a wild level of hop intensity.
With such an intense IPA you're going to need a dish with intense flavours to stand up to it. I mentioned some Indian spice and think this would meld perfectly with a spicy Indian meal.
Nerd note
IBUs (International Bitterness Units) are measured on a scale from 1-100, after which your tongue normally raises the white flag. That's what makes this beer so intriguing, because on paper it just shouldn't work but somehow the guys behind it have managed to make a 127 IBU beer smooth and drinkable. If you think you can handle your hops then you're going to love this!
Rating
4.5 of 5
Sounds good! I will for sure buy a couple of bottles and try it out.
This works for me. I really love Amarillo Spring!
If you compare it with the best American DIPAs (like the Plinys, HopSlam, Dreadnaught IPA, 90 minutes…), does it hold one’s own ground?
@bark – tough call that. As I mentioned in the ‘live’ tasting over at Facebook it doesn’t have as much grapefruit and citrus ‘zing’ as some of the top US DIPAs you mention. Does it hold its ground? I think so. Is it as good? That’s for you to decide. I think from a Swedish brewing perspective it’s a very bold beer that’s pushing the envelope of craft beer in this country.