Are we importing the wrong beers? - IPA not really a traveller

With the current big thing in the NZ craft beer scene being heavy use of hops it’s hardly surprising that imports of big hopped craft beers from overseas are on the rise. Big hopped IPA’s and Double IPA’s from America, England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway and Japan are increasingly popping up around Wellington. I’m as involved as anyone in the import of these beers through my position at Regional where I range these sorts of beers and direct importers to source them. However recently in private I have started to wonder if these sorts of beers are really the best ones to ship the length of the earth.

What’s that I hear you say? But IPA is historically a travelling beer style?

Well there are two issues here. Firstly while the IPA’s of the India trade used to make the arduous journey to India they most likely bear precious little resemblance to the beers we call IPA today. While Martyn Cornell and Ron Pattinson are better qualified to talk about what historic IPA’s were like, I think I can safely say that the beers we call IPA today, heavily late hopped with modern resinous hop varieties, are a far cry from the IPA’s of the colonial era.
Late hop characters (i.e. flameout, whirlpool, and dry hopping) create striking aromas and flavours which are wonderful when experienced fresh, however these un-isomerised hop characters are moments in time. These beers fade really fast, they fall out of balance quickly as the stabilised hop compounds fall away and the considerable malt that was required to balance the hops is left sitting bold and prominent, the hop compounds oxidise and turn minerally leaving acrid unpleasant flavours.
The second consideration when thinking about IPA’s being a travelling style is that once the beers of old reached their harsh tropical destination the expectations were probably significantly low, any ale that didn’t resemble vinegar was probably hailed as a success and worthy of fetching a premium price. Today in an environment where we have some very good fresh locally produced options and are paying a premium price for these beers our standards are and should be higher than the ‘doesnt resemble vinegar’ threshold.
So often when I taste these modern imported IPA’s they are either heavily oxidised, or pleasant enough but obviously shadows of their former selves when compared with reports of them from their countries of origin.

What’s the solution?

I don’t know. I’m not suggesting we stop bringing these beers into the country, there is a market and it will be supplied one way or another. There are brewers who attempt to prevent their beers from being exported, Stones Greg Koch for example but to little effect considering despite his best efforts I could buy 7 of his beer brands right now if I wanted to. Small scale imports that will move through quickly are also a good idea but this often prevents the economy of scale that helps these imports work financially.

Hhmm.

Who let the dogs out?

Last Thursday with the help of some friends I tasted my way through the 4 Brewdog beers that came in on the most recent import. I approached the task with mixed feelings, on the plus side the beers have had a mainly positive reaction from bloggers in the UK, and they are in styles that are perhaps more commonly found in the new world than in Britain offering a bit of a novelty factor. On the negative they have to take the prize for the worst labelling I have seen in a long time, the trendy urban dog themed labels left me wondering if I was going to get a pair of new jeans and a hoody rather than a tasty beverage. Unfortunately with at least two of the four beers I would have been better off with a new piece of street ware. While there was certainly evidence that the boys in Fraserburgh can brew some top beer there was also evidence that quality control has a way to go yet.

First off I started with Hoprocker, a lager brewed with NZ hops and one that in this part of the world is sure to draw comparisons with the Macs beer that shares its name. Unfortunately the Scottish contender has a long way to go with this example being riddled with diacetyl.

Hoprocker 5.5%abv

Pours a light gold with a quickly disappearing white head. Aroma is totally dominated by a huge dirty butterscotch character with a hint of grassy hops. On the palate the butterscotch is joined by a smoky note, a hint of sourness and a late bitterness. Diacetyl bomb.

So not a great start but things can only get better right? Next up was the Punk IPA I had heard good things about this one and was relieved when clean hoppy aromas wafted up from the glass. While the Hoprocker is marketed as including NZ hops, Punk IPA isn’t but I would be surprised if it didn’t have a healthy dose of NZ hops added late in the boil. Tasting broadly like a cross between Emerson’s Pilsner and Three Boys IPA Punk IPA was a solid NZ style pale ale, from Scotland of course.

Punk IPA 6%abv

Pours a light gold with a thick white head. Aroma features resiny hops, citrus particularly grapefruit, and passionfruit. On the palate there is good deal of perceived bitterness right from the start. Grapefruit and passionfruit are continued with just enough sweet pale malt character to cushion the bitterness.

Next up was Hardcore IPA, punks bigger brother. So Bad Brains went on the stereo, I did my best Henry Rollins impersonation and I got ready for what should have been a fantastic beer. It wasn’t . I have tasted a limited number of Imperial IPA’s a couple from NZ and a couple from the States and let me tell you this had very little in common with any of them. Alcoholic heat obliterated almost anything else this beer might have been able to offer. At the time I muttered something along the lines of it being similar to washing you mouth with vodka prior to performing self dentistry.

Hardcore IPA 9%

Pours a light gold with a fluffy white head. Aroma features butterscotch and big solventy hot alcohol with hints of bubblegum and the slightest trace of resiny hop. On the palate there is a mouth coating alcoholic sensation, sweet cloying malt and a huge warming alcoholic finish that reminds me of shoting vodka. Dire beer.

Time for some redemption. Last up was the stout Riptide and a cracker it was to. Full of all the right flavours it was a well constructed beer that drank well below its strength (is that a good thing?) and much improved my plummeting opinion of the brewery.

Riptide 8%abv

Pours a very dark ruby with a tan fluffy head. Aroma features confected malt character with hints of green banana, astringent grain and chocolate. On the palate there is a creamy mouth feel, chunky chocolate and toffee a resiny hop note and a long balancing roasty finish. Great strong stout but not an Imperial in my opinion.

And so to my title, who let the dogs out? Two of these beers should never have left the brewery gates let alone travelled the length of the earth to be sold for a small fortune. Even rising stars need to worry about quality control. Next up will be the kings of keg Meantime.