Beer – #783 – Panhead – Green Hop Vandal

Fresh Hop Canned Beer, it’s all happening here I can tell you. A beer that I’ve consistently had in the 8’s and 9’s every time I’ve had it, telling me it really is among the best of the beers. This though the first time they’ve made it in a can, or more correctly, canned it, and renamed it! Green Hopped.

Fresh hopped with Motueka whole cones, full aroma full flavour, in a cool black and green 440ml can

Canned as 440 ml of a beer that is 8% ABV, making it 240 calories a serve size, and in the can that’s 2.77 standard drinks worth.

Brewed by Panhead Custom Ales in the style that is India Pale Ale (IPA) and they’re in Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand

I am so looking forward to this

Not only did the Americans invent hot-rodding, they invented hop-rodding too.

In the late 1960’s a Tauranga teenager called John Reid threw a kiwi hat in to that ring with the the famed “Vandal”, a dazzling green flake 1919 Dodge Bucket.

Like any good hotrod, it’s built to attract as much attention as possible.

So, what could possibly go wrong?

Nothing but grass when you open the can. A strange deep aroma that is a bit unlike most of the other IPA beers., more pine, something ‘fatty’ I have no idea how to describe, a very short aroma.

Pale pour, that always surprises me, I’m sure darker is stronger. I’m not always correct though.

Lovely pour with that great stark white head, that just fades to a steady and thicker film, not quit a head.

Hard to pick a particular aroma in the glass though, it’s not strong or loud.

But then…. outstanding, the full swing and a ding, the jackpot, bullseye, hail Mary touchdown, hole in one, what a result of a beer!

I’d list the things wrong with this, but it’s not a list. If it were a list it would say ‘too small a can’

Balanced brilliance, warmth from a malt, understated bitterness, and a fullness of taste with a bitter linger int he mouth without any overt dryness on the tongue.

Just get in!

This isn’t a beer that has specific good points. There isn’t a bit where you go ‘that’s a brilliant tropical note’ or ‘ that’s a lovely bitterness’, or ‘ the body the malt adds really offsets the bitterness’, this is a beer the delivers all the bits as one giant smack to the tongue. I know there are people that I would love to share this with, this is an IPA that is, not literally, to die for.

It lack aroma, the downside, but it drinks like nectar, which I’ve never had, but possibly tastes like this. Not hop forward, not loud on bitterness, not shouty on the dryness, not edgy or difficult on the tongue, no particular oddities or crudeness about it. Just good, in a can.

Just really good.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 10 of its things from the thing. That straight up Vandal already a 10 on the pdubyah scale has a companion. Swoon.

The double dip review

Where did I get it? Liquorland are my go-to people, this might be in good shops though.
Am I enjoying it? This is beer.
Would I have another? I think this is a beer you should drink, a desert island beer.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? yes, you could take all the versions, the Vandal, the fresh version, the green version, and they’d all be stars, easy to drink, no side effects, aside a smile, and perhaps a caution about quantity over stability, this is beer well done, well.

Music for this: ” James Blake ” and ” The Colour in Everything” on Spotify and yes Colour is spelt proper.

James Blake Litherland, known as James Blake, is an English electronic music producer and singer-songwriter from London.

It’s one of those really good background albums, I didn’t listen intently to the lyrics but the whole is very nice, even and mellow.

INDIA PALE ALE & IPA

India Pale Ale gets its name and unique style from British brewers who were making beer for export to India. This style has an intense hop flavor which was used to preserve the beer for the long voyage. India Pale Ale has a golden to copper color with a medium maltiness and body. The aroma is moderate to very strong. IPAs work especially well at cutting the heat of chili, vindaloo or Sichuan cuisine.