Posted on 26/01/22
Oli Meade
This week, Verdant released Putty 2022, DEYA released something similar, and the first Emperor’s F**K Cancer Beer Project Collab finally arrived!
How are they all drinking?
Let’s find out…
There is only one place to start my pick of the best new beers out this week… and that’s with release of Verdant’s Putty 2022!
This is the single biggest beer release of the year.
It’s the beer release beer fans await white-knuckled with clenched jaws and stomachs. Even those that try to downplay it HAVE to try it when it’s out – and this year, I’m pleased to report, Putty is drinking just as it should – as one of the finest IPAs the UK has to offer.
Tasting notes wise, I can’t say it any better than Verdant themselves – this shines ‘like a satsuma in a pint of double cream and hopped to hell and back with Galaxy, Mosaic and Azacca. Dank and sweaty, but oh so fruity with it too! Deep mangoes, apricots and freshly cut grass pervade your senses. As always we’ve layered up the malts with an emphasis on Golden Promise and wheat malts for a bread crust base, sacks and sacks of flaked wheat and oats bump up the creamy density further.’
It’s juicy, it’s fruity, it’s creamy, it’s the biggest hoppy beer of the year! If it’s still available when you read this, get yours now!
(We have a limit of one per customer to try to make sure as many people as possible get to try this one – but I’m stiil pretty sure this is gonna sell out quick! If that’s the case, sign up to our email list below for future announcements of big beer releases.)
I’ve mentioned Full Circle’s Looper IPA twice already in these weekly posts… and now, for the first time EVER, I’m going to recommend it a third time!
This glows bright orange and tastes like a big bowl of them – there’s a ton of juice as you’d expect, but what categorises this is the sweet lemon and lime citrus that stamp it out as unique.
Looper is as good as core IPAs come, from a very good brewery bossing it right now – get involved!
Next up, this week, we took in two new DEYA IPAs that are both off the charts!
If you’re looking for a Putty comparison, I’d go with Elevator Music IPA – which was specifically designed to ‘squeeze as much goodness out of Galaxy hops as possible’ (just a coincidence, right?!).
There’s Idaho 7 and Enigma poured all over this too, which means sweet lychee and tart passionfruit trade blows as you sip, with the gloriously sweet lychee winning the war.
Oats add creaminess. This is a brilliant brew.
DEYA’s We Laugh Legitimately IPA, I’m delighted to report, is something quite a bit more different – brewed with a sprinkle of rye for much more malty sweetness.
Motueka and Idaho 7 add lime and pineapple, and Riwaka – a hop that quite a few brewers are playing with right now – adds a huge citrus aroma.
To see what all the fuss is about, scoop this up.
Finally in a bumper hop month – I want to mention Boxcar as a brewery that kinda fly under the radar but really shouldn’t!
In actual fact, Emma’s Colour IPA currently outscores both the DEYA stuff mentioned above on Untappd (at the time of writing at least).
This is lovely, bright and fruity. Personally I think it’s the deliberate, subtle bitterness that’s making this such a hit.
It’s effing freezing as I write this… but I’m more than happy knowing the Emperor’s / Loch Lomond F&%K Cancer Collab Bacta Imperial Stout is this evening’s ideal upcoming solution!
This is brewed with honey, hazelnuts, coffee, and cocoa and a whole gigantic heap of dark roasted malts that dial the ABV all the way up to 12%.
So rich, so dark, so complex – so great!
(Bacta Impy Stout is actually one of four wicked big darks brewed as part of the F**K Cancer Beer Project. Not only are they great beers – they’re part of a project doing great things too. Fair play, that’s something we can all get behind.)
In other news, the insanely popular Boxcar’s Dark Mild is back with a switched-up malt base – which means it’s better than it’s ever been before!
This first rose to prominence during one of the early lockdowns but has proved such a hit Boxcar are pretty much obligated to continue brewing it.
It’s fruit and nut chocolate, this time a shade darker and with a more complex flavour. It’s alluringly sweet and Boxcar have crafted some wizardry with the water for a creamier mouthfeel.
Just £3.85 a can. WTF?!!
Nothern Monk’s OFS Series has reached Canada… which means OFS063 Canadian Breakfast Imperial Pancake Stout!
While some breweries tend to reign in the maple sweetness in their pancake stouts while hoping for universal appeal, experimental artists Northern Monk have done nothing of the sort.
This is a sweet, sticky maple syrup dessert stout with vanilla, rich brown sugar and a maple-smoked malt backbone!
Some will want to share it – but if dessert stouts are your thing, giving any of this away would be absolute sacrilege.
I’m going on a bit here on, but before wrapping up I also want to highlight Lapsing Into Heresy Russian Imperial Stout – mostly because I love the style and I don’t think you see enough Russian Impy Stouts around!
There are no adjuncts whatsoever here. Instead, 9 months of tank maturation have developed the dark chocolate, cinder toffee and dried fruit flavours all mixed in.
The warming booze is as prominent as you’d expect, too, which makes it perfect for a frosty winter eve.
Those who like the sound of Full Circle’s Looper will have fun getting to know the brewery’s other hoppy beers – from a massive new haul there are APAs, session IPAs, Oat Pales, Fresh Hopped collabs and Double IPAs all on offer, and, trust me, Full Circle are doing some great things with hops!
Northern Monk’s other Canadian celebrations are interesting too. A Cinnamon-Apple Pastry Pale? Sign me up!
There’s more new Burnt Mill just in in Into Gold IPA – I can never really get these in as fast as they fly off the shelves.
The fresh Polly’s haul is signature Polly’s. You just cannot go wrong with a can adorning the Polly’s name.
Wylam are the latest brewery to explore fresh hops with Mission Strata CY21 DIPA. Wylam’s Over The Mountains IPA sounds absolutely incredible as well. And if the Russian Imperial Stout is too much for you?
There’s always this chewy, creamy Oat Porter to get into.
As always, I really hope you get to try some of these new beers this week.
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
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We trawl the globe tasting great beer
