Wednesday, 25 May 2016

East Kent IPA

 
East Kent IPA is a pretty full bodied ale with a tangy bitterness to balance; it's extreme, but you don't really notice. The hops are all East Kent Goldings, from the 2015 growth at Humphrey Hulme's Brook Farm. It was a shocking harvest, with terrible picking conditions, yet the quality in the brewing is the best I've seen for 15 years: a deep, fruity lemon balm character balances a light, classy pepperiness. 

We bottled this year's gyle with an inoculation of  brettanomyces claussenii and laid it down for 3 months, allowing tropical fruit aromas to develop. We also put the corks in too far and used the wrong cage - the result is an infuriatingly awkward beer to get at that more than rewards the effort taken to get it.

Enjoy it chilled, with Jalebi, green chili chutney and a sour slaw (and a pair of pliers and a corkscrew).


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