Dank.
Intense.
Pillowy.
Ale.
One of our beer highlights of late 2020 was the Unbarred NEIPA series. 3 beers that pushed boundaries to achieve a sweet, smooth body and full hop expression
As Unbarred Brewery tell it; “Head Brewer and Founder, Jordan, wanted to create a range of beers that expressed how different a beer could be just through changing the hops each time. Applying his expertise and love for a good New England, a series was born”
It seems that one beer in particular from the NEIPA series caught the public’s attention. It’s a beer we described on instagram as, light as a feather on the palate, dank and juicy without trying to be too sweet or in your face.
The resulting 2021 re-iteration from Unbarred is a juicy, 8% Double IPA using Azacca, Mosaic, Simcoe & Vic Secret, and it’s a release so good we had to quiz them a little, and blog about.
What does each different hop bring to the table in terms of flavour and texture?
Azacca gives the notes of pineapple, mango & citrus with a touch of pine. Mosaic adds more mango and citrus notes and Simcoe brings an earthy, piney flavour with more citrus. Vic Secret is there for its bright tropical profile with notes of pineapple, passionfruit and a touch of pine.
How did Unbarred work out which was the most popular NEIPA from last year?
It was a mix of Untappd score, this being the best from the series so far, and the responses from customers via Untappd and other platforms.
How has the original NEIPA been tweaked and modified to create the DIPA?
We have adjusted the malt bill to have more sugars to start (to increase ABV) and have had to use more hops per litre to beef up the flavour profile. The recipe in terms of ingredients is exactly the same, just more hops and malts.
So what do Brighton Beer Blog think?
Slight carbonation and dense, tropical, pillowy hops combine to make this dance on your tongue. Then a wave of thick, musty pine hits you before the beer evaporates in a cloud of hop resin. In 3 words, Hoppy, fluffy and intense!
At 8% it delivers the rich texture and booziness you expect, but the soft finish doesn’t leave you with a bitter or sharp hop bite. It might not be a beer you’re going to want pint after pint of, but you’ll certainly want more than a single serving because every mouthful is eventful and addictive.
So far on Untappd the average ratings for the DIPA are higher than those for the original NEIPA #4, so it seems the brewers at Unbarred have got this spot on. 🍻
We’d love to read your thoughts and personal tasting notes in the comments…