Beer # 77 Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale

Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale


Thornbridge Brewery
Bakewell, England, U.K.
Independent
Pale Ale, Unfiltered 5.2% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$4.75 (Canadian) At LCBO.

Twitter: @thornbridge

Another offering from the interesting gentlemen from Bakewell. Kipling, billed as a "South Pacific Pale ale"... due to the exclusive use of the Nelson Sauvin hops variety (developed in New Zealand and named for it's characteristic gooseberry aroma which is most often found in Sauvignon Blanc wines). Bottle did contain some sediment but not as much as the previous beer I had from this brewery "Jaipur".


Without further ado:


Pours light bronze in the glass with a frothy white head made up of medium sized bubbles. Aroma is all tropical, gooseberry, passion fruit, and guava. Fruit also leads the charge in the attack , but is slowly overtaken by a warm malty taste. Toased malt burnt sugars and a slight bitterness counterbalances the sweetness in the brew, oaky and slightly earthy. Finish is toasted malt with a hint of herbals. Aeration pulls out more papaya - mango, and very earthy grain flavours.



Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional   


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6Exceptional
Re-Order:  6/6 Exceptional
Experience:   6/6 Exceptional


Final Thoughts:

A very good use of the Nelson Sauvin Hop variety. I think we will be seeing it used more and more in the coming years, as brewers experiment with a wider flavour pallet, and deeper complexities.


Cheers
CJT


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