Friday 8 February 2013

[CASK REVIEW] Thornbridge - Jaipur


Hop bliss from up North.

Undoubtedly one of the best breweries in the UK today, Thornbridge are a brewery that beer enthusiasts and others alike should warmly embrace. Almost any effort of theirs you are likely to come across will be well worth a hearty drink.

Jaipur, the brewery's IPA, comes in at 5.9% and is gold in colour. On the nose there's strong passionfruit and pineapple aromas. To taste, you get a sweet mellow maltyness at the start. The beer's crispness and thirst quenching  clarity sets up the perfect platform for the character of the hops to shine through: tropical fruit bitterness, finishing with a grapefruit/citrus bite at the end. The true skill at work here to admire is the impeccable balance between the hop bitterness and the soft body, meaning the beer isn't too ordinary in flavour, yet the hops are tamed in a way that ensure the beer is highly drinkable despite the strong aromatic flavours. Even though the beer is 5.9%, it slips down incredibly easily, cementing Jaipur as a brave man's session beer. I managed to get hold of this beer in the Craft Beer Co pub in Farringdon.

This is a world class beer, and you'd do well to try it if you haven't already.