Last year we saw the "All Together" series based on an Other Half IPA and the "Black is Beautiful" series, likewise based on a stout from Weathered Soul, in which breweries far and wide brewed their own versions using those same recipes.
Those initiatives addressed important socio-economic and political/racial issues but it is certainly an interesting concept, focusing solely on the brewing aspect, to see how much the outcome varies (I would surmise as a result of the differing temperatures or timings) when different breweries follow the same instruction manual.
So will these DIPAs turn out to be 12 of one and a dozen of the other (see what I did there.....) or completely distinct beers with their own unique identity?
Let's take a look.....
Breweries
Cloudwater Brew Co and Left Handed Giant
Names
Twelve Plus One
Eleven Plus Two
Style
DIPA
Hops
Citra Cryo
Nelson Sauvin
Chinook
Cascade
ABV
8%
Dan
Before delving into the taste, I would first point out that I loved the can designs on these and it was great to see both breweries applying their trademark styles to the brief (that was clearly something planetary)!
For me, LHG edges it on the tin but I'll be curious to see what my better half thought?
On the gob, these both had a lovely mouthfeel and interestingly, I felt that the LHG was slightly more carbonated and a touch thinner and lighter than the Cloudy which was fuller and (forgive the pun) cloudier.
Possibly as a result of this difference, I felt the sharper, zestier flavours (citrus, mandarin and pineapple) popped out a bit more on LHG's but I picked up more of those smoother crisp white grape and gooseberry vinous notes from the Nelly S on Cloudy's brew along with a nice bit of vegetal savoury dankness. As Jack can testify, we are both suckers for dank and savoury (hence our endearment to Verdant) and on that basis, the Cloudy pipped it for me!!
Or did it...
We wouldn't be true beer nerds if we didn't hold back some mils of these collabs for cuvée purposes! Not to teach anyone to suck eggs but cuvée-ing is basically blending different drinks (or specifically wine) and seems to have gathered a bit of wind in the craft community of late.
Well the photo above is actually the cuvée moneyshot and my word, the mix of these 2 far outshone them as separate beers. For me, the body was spot on - now just a tad lighter than the Cloudy version with a petite carbonation. This enabled all of the aforementioned flavours to sing harmoniously without one dominating aftertaste - If the breweries fancied whipping up their beers again but then putting the whole batch through the blender and canning it, I would be on it like a shot!!
Jack
I have to agree entirely with my long-suffering partner in crime when it comes to the can designs here. Both are exquisite, however, the Left Handed Giant's can really does it for me. But we aren't here to critique can design, we want to discuss the goodness within.
The Left Handed Giant 11+2 gave heady notes of dankness with some zesty orange kick on the finish which kept the whole drinking experience ticking along very nicely indeed. In the glass it presented a very attractive proposition just the right amount of haze and good head retention throughout. During the drinking of 11+2 the bitterness develops quite a lot, this can lead to it being slightly drying, but in quite a pleasant way.
Cloudwater's 12+1, as Dan mentioned above, was much creamier. For me it was decidedly less dank (I am really growing to hate this term, but I will stick with it for now in lieu of a better substitute), with a muted sweetness. Overall, 12+1 is less zesty than 11+2, the orange notes come through as more of a marmalade than zippy, zingy zest, not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but for me, with everything else going on in these beers, the liveliness of 11+2 was a welcome repose. 12+1 didn't pour as nicely as LHG's offering and was more tart than bitter for me. Overall, as stand alone beers, the LHG offering was the more accomplished.
Now let's talk cuvée, I generally think this is a bit of a gimmick, and while it can definitely be fun to play mad professor, mixing up hithertofore unknown combinations of cerveza, I would prefer my beers to be good on their own merits. BUT, there is always an exception to test the rule and I think Cloudwater and LHG have provided that here.
When mixed, in roughly equal measures, 11+2 and 12+1 become much more than the sum of their parts. What we get here is neither beer playing for dominance over the other, rather, this is perfect interplay. The result of the cuvée is a beer that is simultaneously marmaladey and zesty with a nice, tingly bitterness. The dankness of LHG's initial offering has more or less disappeared (the only fault) to be replaced by a strong pineapple note which is very pleasing.
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