#Tryanuary: Art Brew Orange IPA
Have you been following my #Tryanuary posts? Have you been trying out new independent brews for yourself? If not, why not – there’s only so much pushing I can do you know, you have to do at least a little bit of the work for yourselves.
Anyway, for those of you that need a little bit more prompting, here is the second post of beers we got from The Offie that we have been keener to try than mustard in greyhound trap. Today’s offering from’t Offie is Art Brew‘s Orange IPA. Operating now from North Devon, Art Brew describe themselves as Beer Anarchists. Anyone with an anarchist flag on their website is going to be OK with The Boy, so I thought I should pick one up. My obsession with Lost Coast’s Tangerine Wheat in the US meant that the orange flavour was bound to be a winner with us both.
And it was a most pleasant brew. I have no idea what element of it is anarchic, but they make a heady strong and hoppy brew. Ever so slightly cloudy (which is probably our fault for giving it such a long journey home and only leaving it to settle in the fridge for two days), the colour is a rich amber-orange and the beer has a hoppy, orange smell.
Which is what you get when you drink it. Excellent bitterness with an aromatic twist of orange – think very much the subtle flavour of the essential oils from orange peel rather than Tesco’s own orange juice possibly from real oranges here. This orange flavour took the edge off the hoppiness for me and gave a nice smooth flavour with enough complexity to keep you interested. At around 6.5%, you’d expect it to hold the bold flavours and it really does. Our only complaint, as with Tres Bien, was that it was a little lacking in the carbonation department – but we’re beginning to wonder if this is just our taste, having been so thoroughly trained by Californian and other West Coast micro-breweries. Perhaps English brewers just prefer flatter ales.
So come on then, don’t keep us all in suspense. What have you been trying this #Tryanuary?
Anyway, for those of you that need a little bit more prompting, here is the second post of beers we got from The Offie that we have been keener to try than mustard in greyhound trap. Today’s offering from’t Offie is Art Brew‘s Orange IPA. Operating now from North Devon, Art Brew describe themselves as Beer Anarchists. Anyone with an anarchist flag on their website is going to be OK with The Boy, so I thought I should pick one up. My obsession with Lost Coast’s Tangerine Wheat in the US meant that the orange flavour was bound to be a winner with us both.And it was a most pleasant brew. I have no idea what element of it is anarchic, but they make a heady strong and hoppy brew. Ever so slightly cloudy (which is probably our fault for giving it such a long journey home and only leaving it to settle in the fridge for two days), the colour is a rich amber-orange and the beer has a hoppy, orange smell.
Which is what you get when you drink it. Excellent bitterness with an aromatic twist of orange – think very much the subtle flavour of the essential oils from orange peel rather than Tesco’s own orange juice possibly from real oranges here. This orange flavour took the edge off the hoppiness for me and gave a nice smooth flavour with enough complexity to keep you interested. At around 6.5%, you’d expect it to hold the bold flavours and it really does. Our only complaint, as with Tres Bien, was that it was a little lacking in the carbonation department – but we’re beginning to wonder if this is just our taste, having been so thoroughly trained by Californian and other West Coast micro-breweries. Perhaps English brewers just prefer flatter ales.
So come on then, don’t keep us all in suspense. What have you been trying this #Tryanuary?
