Friday 28 August 2015

#286: Rover, Wanderer, Nomad, Vagabond

Hoppy lagers are a natural progression in beer style fashion and seem to be having a day in the sun of late. Why this must be distinct from a clean and dry IPA was once beyond me, but I have to say that from the examples I've had, there is a lot to be said for a cold fermented clean beer hopped to the nines, and storied hop nutjobs Eight Degrees recently gave us Nomad for late summer, their take on the questionably billed India Pale Lager.

It certainly looks like a pale lager; clear gold with a pure white head, but it is bursting with as much sharp citrusy hops as any of your other Mitchelstown-born IPAs. Nelson Sauvin, Citra and Cascade are the hops listed and there's plenty of the latter two to be found on the aroma, with all the lemon and grapefruit zest and slight flashes of orange marmalade. To taste it's sharp as cats' claws at first, all freshness and punch, and clean and dry to finish, inviting plenty of big gulps. Closer inspection reveals tropical mix juice and pineapple with a simple, biscuit malt backbone and a long, lingering bitter finish afterwards.
At this rate it shouldn't have time to warm up but if it does you might find a prickly, perfumey effect at the death that raises an eyebrow, but not enough to interfere much with the beer's overall goodness.

As such, another certified Good© beer from the Antipodean Brewo Duo.

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