Beer #33 - W/C 12 October 2015
BREWERY //
Kerry Gray launched Choice Bros. as a gypsy brewery from Brooklyn, Wellington last August. He specialises in conceiving and creating beers with unexpected flavour combinations that laugh in the face of the Reinheitsgrebot purity law. Usually while wearing rainbow tie-dyed overalls. Over the past year they've brewed a Roast Lamb & Mint Pale Ale and an an Imperial Stout with spiced rum and cacao. Currently Kerry is working on more meat-forward beers. Choice Bros. Stag Semen Stout won them a Silver at the NZ Beer Awards a few weeks ago...
TASTING NOTES //
Brewers of American IPA's have been involved in somewhat of a hops arms race over the past decade with brewers clamouring to have the most theoretical IBUs in their beers. Uncharacteristically for boundary-pushing Choice Bros., they decided enough was enough and set about brewing a classically delicious, well-balanced American style IPA using the finest ingredients from the US and NZ. I'm Afraid of Americans has a solid malt backbone and a hefty, but not insane, amount of hops. Keeping it 'old skool' Gray went with the Three C's of hops- Columbus, Cascade & Centennial which are all relatively modern American-developed varieties that came to define the US IPA style in the 80's & 90's. You may detect citrus, marijuana and earthy notes along with the balanced hop bitterness.
BREWERY // Choice Bros.
BEER // I'm Afraid of Americans
STYLE // IPA
ORIGIN // Wellington. New Zealand
ABV // 6.5%
IBU // 55
HOPS // Columbus, Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo & Simcoe
MALT // Gladfields US Ale, Wheat, Crystal & Gladiator
MEAT // This is a vegetarian beer
YEAST // US Ale Yeast
TEMPERATURE // Cool - 7-10C
FOOD MATCH // Deep Fried Camembert. Rogan Josh. Ginger Chocolate Cake.
GLASS // IPA Glass, Pilsner Glass
Beer Style Blog - Read more about IPA's and other beer styles over on the BLOG.