Thus Let Us Drink Beer – Akasha Wooden Leg / Triple Haze & new T-Bone release
Akasha Brewing has experienced a well-earned meteoric rise in the world of hops and established itself firmly as a stalwart on the firmament of brewers, with accolades trickling in left, right and centre – which is not further wondrous as their operations and brewhouse have been custom-built from scratch with the flexibility to channel their alchemy in the creation of smaller speciality batches.
Their core range and specifically their Hopsmith and Mosaic IPAs as well as the Korben D IIPA have become trusted go-tos whenever I see them pop up on menus and being a fan of American hops, every time Akasha announces a new release, I get excited.
Akasha’s rebrand last year saw them not only establish an illuminati inspired hoppy watchful eye but also Akasha Projects, i.e. a dedicated space for limited and at times more experimental releases. The beauty with Akasha is that they never mess around or waste their time on gimmicky novelty releases – both consistency and quality is always at their core.
One of their new limited releases is a triple hazy IPA, which not only sounds delicious but is a veritable hop bomb that is accentuated by citrussy and limey highlights, which are backed by a warming ABV of a solid 10%; I teamed a can of the Triple Haze with a dram of peated Belgrove and it was divine.
Now, so far, so good.
Akasha also has limited releases that hop aficionados wait for every year as they only make appearances at certain times, like the triple IPA that goes under the guise of Wooden Leg, brewed specifically for the brewery’s birthdays.
In essence, the Wooden Leg is IPA porn – think piney, citrussy accentuated by a triumvirate of hops, i.e. Simcoe, Amarillo and Centennial, resting on a backbone of delicately calibrated malty bitterness. The double digit alcohol content rounds out the delicious party that swirls in your mouth.
An interesting one is Akasha’s collaboration with Newstead Brewing, i.e. the Vampyre Lovers Red IPA, which as the name suggests, comes in a reddish hue.
Based on Sabro and Bru-1 American hops, it marries both a vanilla-esque fruity vibe with a nice pineappely bitterness. What sounds like a borderline contradictive combination works perfectly well, as the melange results in a citrussy cereal crescendo counterpointed by a core bitterness. Another example par excellence of how Akasha manages to experiment yet never at the expense of expertly brewed hoppy goodness.
Change of pace?
Well, not really, as in terms of quality and creativity, T-Bone Brewery out of Hobart, Tasmania has established itself as one of my favourites on terra australis.
I have been lusting for the new IPA from T-Bone Brewing for the longest time and could not wait to crack a tin of their 50/50 Hazy expression open. What tickled my nostrils was an array of fruity aromas, flanked by coconutty highglights. What the nose promised, is seamlessly transitioned onto the palate:
The delicate haziness is full of juicy pineapple and citrus flavours with the welcome dominance of the coconut coming through again, set against a foundation of Mosaic and Sabro Hops adding a nicely, low bitterness to the mix.
In essence the 50/50 Hazy IPA is a tour de force in hazy goodness and clocking in at an ABV 6.8%, extremely sessionable.
I cannot wait to visit Hobart for the Dark Mofo festival in June, so I can sample T-Bone’s beautiful hop emissions straight from the source.
