Beer – #841 – ParrotDog – Wood Rose
Beer all about Flora, this one the Wood Rose. Mad if you don’t buy one. And it was at the fill station and you know how easy I am when it comes to that sort of thing. Then I discovered ….Part of the Flora IPA Series. A refined version of the beer formerly known as PitBull which I had before, and thought was pretty average.
… A refined version of the beer formerly known as PitBull…
From the fill station this is 1 litre of a beer that is 7% ABV, making the total about 5.5 standard drinks. 201 calories a serve size in this.
Brewed by ParrotDog in the style that is the widely interpreted India Pale Ale (IPA) and they are in Wellington, New Zealand
This series all named after native flora, or plant life.
In the 1970s, American microbrewers reinvigorated IPA and spurred an ongoing obsession.
The overt floral and grapefruit nots of the Cascade hop made the world take notice. We’ve used it here, together with the pine resin character of other class U.S. varieties, to salute the old school.
A rose by any other name would be pitbull
The “Wood Rose: – actually a distorted root – is often the sole sign of Dactylanthis, a parasitic plant which spurns the sun and siphons energy out from the under host. But this Pua O Te Reinga, the flower of the underworld, does blood: clustered onto stalks that creep up into the light, tens of thousands of tiny florets briefly pepper the forrest floor each year.
Interesting inspiration for an IPA, but it is reflected nicely in the beer. The Wood Rose is a punchy American IPA clocking in at 7% ABV, with a deep, not quite amber, golden colour. With aromas and flavours of pine-resin and bitter grapefruit.
This is a stand out IPA in the Flora Series and just like the Wood Rose’s bloom, it won’t be around for long.
So, what could possibly go wrong?
Well colour me stupid, it’s pretty average to brew the same beer and rename it as some exotic series, I’m not sure that I didn’t know that this was going on, I have another ParrotDog beer in the fridge with the same heritage. But I’ll get over it.
Jack White will see to that.
Syrupy rose like aroma on opening, a lively beer with a lot of carbonation this needs pouring quickly .
Nice pour of a bronze brown beer with a lovely white head that is substantial and firm.
In the glass it has a solid aroma, slightly hoppy, slightly sweet .
Strongly hopped this has a lot of up front bitterness, carried on what seems a huge amount of malt sweetness to a bitter but not dry finish. It’s actually alright.
It’s nice that the aroma is strong in this as it wafts towards as you raise the glass.
Taste has what might be best describes as a scented tastes, like rose water, What I don’t get is anything like grapefruit, it’s much softer than that.
Do I think this is outstanding? Not really, I think it’s a lovely IPA beer. I got to the end, eventually. somewhat worse for wear, this isn’t a light beer, and reflected that it was tasty without being so in any particular way, and has a lot of sweetness about it that hangs around, confusing you into thinking this might be better than it is.
I finished. I think I’m a little sad that there wan’t just a little more to top me out
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing. I had to look up the arbitrary scale of thing again, because It seems I frequently settle on 7 as being ‘good’ I thin this is better than good, I’ve had plenty worse and less fulfilling beer. This has the advantage of aroma to back up some of that taste.
The double dip review
- Where did I get it? The FWDC in Constellation drive. It might be on good taps elsewhere though.
- Am I enjoying it? I am, it’s much much better than I thought it might be because when I thought it was based on an average beer.
- Would I have another? I am enjoying the two pints I have.
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? It’s a good beer to stand around and tel lies to, it’s flavoursome and tasty, looks great and isn’t insistent or attention grabbing, It’s a good IPA.
Music for this: ” Jack White ” and “The Acoustic Recordings” on Spotify
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.
A life just as ordinary 