Thus Let Us Drink Beer – Holgate Hopinator + Yarra Valley Big Cat Beer Co’s Fable IPA
Despite still having potential to gain more visibility, Holgate Brewing has established itself as a veritable heavyweight in the Australian craft beer landscape and after its initial success and a fulminant reception by connoisseurs, 2020 sees their old school exercise par excellence in hoppiness, i.e. the American DIPA Hopinator re-merge.
While the original incarnation was heavy on the malts and with a nice bitterness derived from Vienna and Crystal malts, the 2020 variant sees those features being married with an added flair of citrussy, piney notes and a light zestyness.
Not unlike with peat and smoke in the realm of whisky, dank and spicy notes get me going when it comes to IPAs and in that regard Holgate’s 2020 Hopinator delivers in spades, as the aromas of Chinook and Columbus hops are further enhanced by the addition of Amarillo and Ahtanum hop blends, which help to dial up the juicy fruit notes to eleven, before culminating in a delicate bitter and moreish finish.
The result is a nice riffing on the classic American Double IPA that beats the already exquisite Millennium Falcon in terms of hoppy and resinous deliciousness.
Talking of exquisite breweries that produce outstanding IPAs, let’s have a look at a new one entity from Victoria that goes under a fulminant and full-bodied moniker, i.e. The Yarra Valley Big Cat Beer Co.
Passionate about channelling their alchemy in the creation of a premium craft beer range, the common denominator of YVBCBC’s emissions is that taste-wise, things are dialled up to eleven.
Case in point: Their Yarra Valley Big Cat Beer Co’s Fabled IPA.
Clocking in at 6.6% ABV and thereby only being moderately alcoholic, bold flavours reign supreme which are crowned by delicate citrussy highlights.
Yarra Valley Big Cat’s Fable IPA is an expertly calibrated exercise in showing how hops can work in symmetry without running danger of overpowering each other, with the result being a wonderful IPA that makes one curious about the brewery’s future emissions.
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images from company websites
