Beer – #198 – 8 Wired – HopWired IPA

8 Wired HopWired IPA. Brewed by  8 Wired Brewing , although brewed at Renaissance Brewing in the sttyle: India Pale Ale (IPA) and that’s all the thing in Blenheim, New Zealand.

7.3% ABV making 500ml about 2.9 standard drinks. And at 70 IBU is at the higher end of IPA.

We believe HopWired is the first bottled version of a true new world India Pale Ale made with NZ grown base malt and 100% truly unique NZ hops. We bet you’ll find nothing else like it on the shelves. Although the malty sweetness is there, this beer is all about the hops. Unlike an American I.P.A. which will mainly hit you with a grapefruity-citrus flavour and aroma, the unique NZ hops used in HopWired are more like a tropical punchbowl: Passion fruit, lime, oranges and Sauvignon Blanc to name but a few. A local Marlborough winemaker said it smelled like gooseberries… Gooseberries? Who has ever smelled a gooseberry?? Decide for yourself or just enjoy it without further complications. Cheers!

This has a muted hoppy/grass aroma, which is really nice on the nose. Pours a lovely rimu brown with an understated head.  Aroma is stronger of the grass/hops that you’d be expecting.

This is interesting. I was expecting sharper more acidic taste, and I get a much softer bite than I would have expected or be expecting. It’s not nearly as bitter as it could be.

There are some intriguing under-notes to this,  not grapefruit but something similar. It’s an all-on mouthful.  Leaves a lovely lacing on the glass too.

So where is this at? It’s not abundantly bitter, it’s not overly layered with flavours. It’s not tart and it’s not sweet. It carries ok, but is short of a good length, but that does not make it thin.

Like many others I like this a good deal. The pdubyah-o-meter says easily a 9, which may be over-generous, but this for sure a very quaffable and amiable beer to be drinking. I’m going to enjoy the rest of my evening with this, and I’m listening to Buddy Guy – the  “Skin Deep” Album,  it’s a Chicago Blues thing, and just now, just today it’s right on the money 🙂

Thanks to the nice people at Liquorland In Newmarket for having this “on tap” and available for take-home in a handy 2l container. Hey this one… it’s only about 12 standard drink units…. stand by

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• International Bittering Units (IBU’s) (randysveranda.com)
• Lagunitas Maximus IPA (tobysbeerreviews.com)