Bitches Brewing Co - Graduation IPA (6.5%)

I was propping up the bar in Friends of Ham yesterday, waiting for the missus to come into the train station from York. They had a great selection on and I was in the enviable position of being able to flit between a keg of Kernel Pale Ale (can't remember which, but does it matter?) and the last of the Hawkshead USPA on cask.  

In came the text: "I'm going to be a little bit late"

There's times when that text could be frustrating to receive, but with my just-a-quick-pint-before-meeting-the-missus time extended this was not one of them. As such I was still sat there when the single mysteriously empty keg line was rebadged, and what came on was a beer from a brewery I'd never even heard of, and it was an IPA. Good times.

After talking to Tyler I found out that Bitches Brewing Co is the moniker for beers brewed by Brian Dickson, or "Bri from The Grove" as pretty much everybody in these beery circles refers to him. The brewery name is a riff on the fact he's been lending his time to that many breweries, in an effort to further his knowledge, that he's become a bit of brewers bitch. The name works, and the branding is great. But what about the beer?

Well I'll tell you right away that this is not your run of the mill tropical fruit or citrus bomb. It has a really unusual, very floral hop aroma but also a bit of overripe orange which reminded me a little bit of Sorachi ace (I was wrong, but more on that later) alongside hay, faint citrus, and a very slight dusty yeast note. As your nose acclimatises a little more citrus does come through in the aroma but it remains extremely floral, genuinely like fresh flowers, and very complex.

The flavour is bitter but not in the same way as your average IPA, it seems to build up, even creep up on you after a few sips. My initial reaction was that there's a Belgian influence in this beer thanks to the funky orange, and sweetly bitter finish. It's got a fantastic depth to it, with an array of crazy flavours rearing their head such as dusty hay, palma violets, almond, Turkish delight, that aforementioned funky orange, and just loads of slightly citrusy yet predominantly floral hop character.

It's a completely mental beer, and do you know what is even more surprising than how it tastes? The ingredients that were used: A little Saaz in the mash tun, then loads and loads of Goldings as bittering and late hops. A pretty standard pale malt bill and Safale US:05 yeast.

I'd already made a few tasting notes before I asked Tyler if he knew what hops were used in making this IPA and his response was definitely a surprise. For a start Goldings are predominantly an aroma hop, secondly they are low alpha (I.e. they ain't very bitter), and thirdly they're known for giving a soft, sweetly floral finish to traditional British bitters.

So no crazy yeast, no particularly exotic hops, and a normal pale malt bill.

I don't know how he did it, but the results are extraordinary.

 

Follow Bitches Brewing Co on twitter: @BitchesBrewCo

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 comments:

  1. looking forward to tasting this!

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