Herevana – Fuller’s – Imperial IPA

Here we have a carton containing a bottle of Fuller’s Imperial IPA. English Bitter. I make it sound rare when there is al local that pours pints, not of this, but of London Pride and others. I might set a record for the use of the work surprising here.

Fuller’s (Asahi) make the Fuller’s Imperial IPA – once a year as a Special Seasonal and they do that in Chiswick, Greater London, 🇬🇧 England. It is of course in the style that is an IPA – English – with an ABV of 10.5%. IN NZ this is 4.14 standard drink units.

The aroma on opening it quit deep and fruity, unexpectedly so, it’s more like a rich or ruby ale.

The pour is a deep polished veneer wood colour, I tried got get a head, it didn’t work out for me.

It is, again surprisingly, pleasing and pleasant, it is a Littleton the sweeter side, but it isn’t quite at the cloying end of the scale. The malts make this sticky toffee like. A very interesting beer. As it warms it does gather more bitterness around it at the finish, which isn’t a bad thing, it reminds you that this might be quietly quite strong and that you need to moderate your quaffing.

That this is not ‘modern fare’ does not diminish that this is quite drinkable and solid as beers go. The high density taste came as a surprise to me, I’m often surprised and under-prepared for beer though, so I’m not really surprised.

The Pdubyah-o-meter rates this as an 8 on the arbitrary number scale. This is most assuredly not the local fare of NEIPA or WCIPA, and is firmly old school English, with a tried and trusted bill of ingredients.

Music: Like him or loathe him it is Phil Collins with an album called ‘No Jacket Required’ Originally from 1985. I might not be the finest but it is passable.

Herevana beers are those I drink at home, I’m not at some beer festival, like, for instance, Beervana, but am just in my kitchen, usually, dining room table, sometimes, or outside, occasionally, where I can take an average picture and write in real time about the beer that I’ve invested in, both in a monetary and emotional way.

Philip himself.

Made popular by the craft brewers of America, Imperial IPA is a revived style of beer that pushes the boundaries of well-hopped, high-strength ales. Imperial IPA’s are traditionally brewed with a high proportion of crystal malt. Our unique take sees UK hop varieties Target, Goldings and Fuggles added to the copper at multiple points during the brew, delivering a piney, earthy aroma and a distinct edge of bitterness. For extra intrigue, we’ve also added a hint of black pepper – giving the beer a unique spicy twist. Bottle conditioned.

Brewer Notes

IPA – English

The English India Pale Ale (IPA) is a hoppy, moderately-strong, very well-attenuated pale golden to deep amber British ale with a dry finish and a hoppy aroma and flavor. Generally will have more finish hops and less fruitiness and/or caramel than British pale ales and bitter and has less hop intensity and a more pronounced malt flavor than typical American versions. The modern IPA style generally refers to American IPA and its derivatives but this does not imply that English IPA isn’t a proper IPA. Originally, the attributes of IPA that were important to its arrival in good condition from England to India by ship were that it was very well-attenuated, and heavily hopped.