Beer – #400 – Garage Project – Mecha-Hop

This writing is of the 400th beer thing since I started making notes.  This small milestone needed to be got to with something a bit different, and unusual.  So I brought me something unusual, not Scruttocks Old Dirigible, and not something  wildly rare or intimidatingly expensive.

But unusual.

How about a 100% Industrial Process Ale –  with no raw, unprocessed ingredients used in its making.*

*might contain free-range water.

Brewed by Garage Project in the style that is  Imperial/Double IPA and they are in a garage in Wellington, New Zealand

This is a 650ml bottle,  and it has 10% ABV,  an unknown number of IBU things but more than 100, and 300 calories a serve. This is 5.1 standard drink units in a bottle.

Mecha-Self-Ie

Brewed better than nature to battle it out at the Great Australian BeerSpectapular – this is Mecha Hop, experimental IPA – 100% Industrial Process Ale. 

Using only the finest vacuum evaporated pure dry malt extract and Warrior, Amarillo and Simcoe liquid CO2 hop extracts, this beast of a beer weighs in at 10% abv and over 100 IBU. 

Guaranteed no raw, unprocessed ingredients – the modernist dream at its unheeding and arrogant best. Welcome to the bold new world of Garage Project – welcome to the future. What could possibly go wrong..

“In down to earth speak then Mecha Hop is brewed using liquid malt extract, liquid hop extract, water and yeast. That’s the stuff you see in the home-brew tins at the supermarket, mixed with the hop goo megabrewers use to give their beer some semblance of hop character“

I’m still scratching my head over this, but I’m told it’s a bit good. Great label artwork to look at while I ponder what about to happen.

Has a really nice sweet aroma on opening, as it does with a faint hiss. Unexpected Dark chestnut brown pour with a great head of fluffy off white. Great lacing in the glass.

The sweet aroma carries and really blooms in the glass, it smells so toffee caramel  sweet, and then there lurking in the back is a hop note.

WOW!!! That’s really full of flavour, really high squinty bitterness, a reply long carry and a lingering finish.  To use a world cup thing … Goooooooaaaaaaal!

So this is Dense in flavour, sweet, bitter, and intense. Normally not a good thing in all one glass, which is becoming apparent as this becomes hard work after just half of one glass.

BUT what a glass!

It’s like a Barley Wine, a particularly heavy Quadruple, an aged stout, it’s many things all at the same time. Bonkers!

I’m dancing in the lounge between sups, it’s not a quaffing beer, and I’m trying to figure it out.

For 400 beers I don’t think I did so bad with this, I’m glad that this turned out a challenge and that it is what it is.

I could have gone safe but there isn’t anything on my list that is a must have beer, and the next milestone has to be 450 and then 500, if only the cap jar was slightly bigger…

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 a of its things from the thing. It’s almost impossible to rate this, well no it isn’t it’s easy to rate this.  I like to think that I drink, and rate beer for what they are, and I’ve rated highly beers that I wouldn’t particularly drink again, and I’m harsh on beers that are good because they should be.

This is a very intense beer, and I’d bet that Garage Project would have another crack at this but dial it down from 11 to something a little more accessible, but they might not as they seem to have list as long as your arm of beers in process and in the pipe-line.

I got near the end of this, and whilst I didn’t retire hurt the last couple of sups became a bit tedious.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? Yes it’s really really unusual
2. Would I have another? I have to finish this, but after that, I think there are other things to get to
3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I would because label art! and weird beer of the year.

Musically this needed something a bit industrial. Which I couldn’t get to, and I was listening to the White Stripes, this is Seven Nation Army, which I did a daddy dance to around the lounge in-between sips.  Its from the Album “Elephant” and they’re worth a listen to because some of it is very clever.

I thank you all for goading me on, liking, commenting, following and just reading these posts which I do for my own pleasure. Email me or comment on a post,  I’m always up for a chat, banter and off topic things. I’m old I have a lot to talk about.

Off to have another dance around the lounge……

IMPERIAL/DOUBLE IPA

Imperial IPA, Double IPA or DIPA is a strong, often sweet, intensely hoppy version of the traditional India Pale Ale. Bitterness units range upward of 100 IBUs and alcohol begins at 7.5% but is more commonly in the 8.5-10% range. The flavour profile is intense all-round. Unlike barley wines, the balance is heavily towards the hops, with crystal and other malts providing support.

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