Beer – #249 – Epic – Hop Zombie

I’ve drunk this in it’s bottle form. So this is a revisit but not. Epic Hop Zombie. On Tap. Epic Hop Zombie form the Epic Brewing Company (NZ) Brewed at Steam Brewing Company in the Style: Imperial/Double IPA, somewhere in Auckland, it’s a big place.

In the bottle form I thought this was a bit good. Today I have a 1 Litre from the tap bottle of the 8.5% Beer, and that is 6.71 standard NZ drink units of goodness.

Hops have taken over the world. Permeated the senses of the minions. Hop Zombies now roam the streets. Lupulin ichor oozing from ravaged legions. Gorging, gouging, masticating. Salivating over insane hop flavours and aromas. The time is nigh. No more festering away in hopless oblivion. Join the HopZombie Revolution.

Pale almost cloudy in the bottle, Mad amount of hop aroma on opening. Pours the same golden pale, and with a decently settled head. Which settles seem more to a thin foam.

No mistaking the hops aroma on this, no doubt about what might be in store.

It delivers a mouthful of the bitter, but there really is a magnificent maltiness and softness to carry this.

This is dangerously drinkable. Probably turn me into a Zombiefied state. Probably.

This really is nice, has a whole mouthfeel that is mostly ‘fluffy’ or ‘sudsy’ like, the bitterness isn’t puckeringly bitter but it sits on your tongue and reminds you what jut flowed over it.

And there is some work picking a nice bunch of citrus fruits in this, take your pick from orange, lemons and some other exotica, all pitched against the malt/caramel warm note, and all carrying the bitter.

It is a bit good. Very Drinkable, I think I mentioned that already, did I?, and it really is a very surprising beer. I’m drinking this with some fairly spicy food and it’s really coming to the party.

That might however have something to do with the impression that you’re about to get Zombie Armageddon crashing about in this. Far from that, They’ve chosen a couple of hops and really worked them out.

As an IPA goes this should be a benchmark for young pretenders, it sets the bar.

In this, from the tap, version I have no hesitation to make this a pdubyah-o-meter 10 arbitrary things on the equally arbitrary scale of scales.

It would be a great evening if only I had the box-set of the Professionals with Bodie and Doyle to watch, but then you can’t have it all.