Herevana – McLeods – FortyAcre Fresh Hop

Here we have a Fresh Hop beer that comes highly recommended, and for many the pick of the fresh hop beers this year McLeod’s Forty Acre Fresh Hop Unfiltered IPA. A season, it seems, to have gathered many unfavourable or disappointing reviews across mostly all the beers (that I’ve noticed). There are exceptions and the range of opinions is as always a mixed bag. I can only talk personally that I’ve been underwhelmed with most of the beers I have, with a couple of exceptions.

Forty Acre Fresh Hop though, there’s a Hugh amount of love for this online.

McLeod’s Brewery obviously make the McLeod’s Forty Acre Fresh Hop Unfiltered IPA, a Special Seasonal release. They make this is 🇳🇿 Waipu, Northland, New Zealand and it’s a IIPA DIPA – Imperial / Double Hazy (NEIPA) of 6.8%

When you crack the can the aroma is very loud, a lovely dankness. It looks like thick orange juice on the pour, which sits with a stark white head that’s not much more than a film. That dank aroma carries to the glass.

To taste, well there’s a few things there. A brilliant high bristle of bitterness dances across the taste buds. Then there is a softer middle bit where the juice and sweetness is. Then a lingering taste that keeps on giving too.

This is much more in keeping with the idea and expectation of a fresh hop release beer. It’s not holding back, or been under-done it’s been heaped on, and the result is remarkable.

This made me smile so much, a really enjoyable IPA, unfiltered hazy at 11 on the dial, an aroma dialled up to the same 11, and a delivery of flavour and enjoyment that I’ve not had for a while in a fresh hop beer. I mean let us not get carried away, this is outstanding and superb but it’s not the beer that end all beers, it might be the one that did the heavy lifting to save fresh hop beers though.

The Pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 on the arbitrary number scale. Outstanding and Splendid, two words that I use often but only when I find things either Splendid or Outstanding. I’ll add Bold too.

Music, on vinyl of course – The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein

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.

Forty Acre is our celebration of the New Zealand Fresh Hop Harvest!

We used fresh Nelson Sauvin green hop cones from our mates at Freestyle Hops in Nelson’s Upper Moutere, flown directly to our brew house & used within hours of picking.

How much fresh cone went into this one? More than 300 kilos in one batch! Fresh & green, expect big, resin-like hop character over a sublime, oily texture with a mouthful of flavour!

A special brew for a super special time of year!

Brewers Notes

IPA

The India Pale Ale (IPA) is used to describe a hop-forward, bitter, dryish beer. None of these beers ever historically went to India, and many aren’t pale.The standard version generally stands for the American IPA and range between 5.0-7.0 ABV. The American IPA is a decidedly hoppy and bitter, moderately strong American ale, showcasing modern American or New World hop varieties. The balance is hop-forward, with a clean fermentation profile, dryish finish, and clean, supporting malt allowing a creative range of hop character to shine through. The “East Coast IPA” is more balanced, offering a malt sweetness with citrus and fruity hop character with a nice little hop bitterness, more reminiscent to traditional english IPAs. In the case of the “West Coast IPA”, bitterness is the at the frontline and pushes malty sweetness to the very back. Stronger and more highly hopped than an American Pale Ale. Compared to an English IPA, has less of the English character from malt, hops, and yeast, less body, and often has a more hoppy balance and is slightly stronger than most examples. Less alcohol than a Double IPA, but with a similar balance. Color ranges from medium gold to light reddish-amber although many substyles exist, each having their own color tone. These other IPA substyles generally are closer-related to their base IPA substyle and should be listed with them, if the substyle is listed.