Cloudwater x Wild Card - Betty
We would have been surprised if Cloudy didn't feature in the calendar given the Northern connection and the fact they are regularly stocked by Premier Hop (and are so damn good!!) so we were pumped to reveal this collaborative 6% IPA featuring an "innovative new hop blend from New Zealand".
Dan
It's not often that Cloudy disappoint but I'm afraid to say this seriously underwhelmed. The dominant taste was bitterness but in a generic unwelcome way, not puckeringly tart citrus or earthy resinous pine but in a non-descript 'this contains alcohol' way. I say dominant but actually this wasn't even that bitter as IPAs go, there just wasn't a whole lot else going on!
There was a subliminal hint of fruity hops with a microscopic trace of passionfruit, guava and pineapple but for an IPA boasting a hardly meagre 18 g/l on the dry hop, I expected tonnes more flavour! I can only opine that that this innovative new hop blend's innovation lies in the fact that you can use such large quantities of the stuff whilst imparting zero discernible flavour.
Whilst being perfectly quaffable and by no means a drain pour, for me this missed the mark!
Score - 3.5
Jack
White wine on the nose, maybe... but not bags of scent rising out of the crack. However, Betty pours like a dream and looks good in the glass with a fine, deep and cloudy amber complexion and a fluffy head belying notes of yeast. To be honest, this is where the wheels start to fall off the wagon a little. In the glass Betty is all promise, however in the mouth...
Well, in the mouth she is a bit of a let down. There is nothing inherently wrong with this beer, but there is nothing overly exciting about it either. The 'new hop blend' gives a very slight pineapple flavour, more dried pineapple than fresh which is pleasant enough, but the surprisingly thin mouthfeel means that any flavour there is dissipates pretty quickly and leaves an alcohol bitterness rather than hop bitterness. I guess that is the curse of looking that good in the glass, without an equally impressive flavour something this good-looking is always going to disappoint.
Score - 3.5
Revel in our mild disappointment by watching us wrap out mouths around Betty here.
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