Patrons Project 4.01 Passion Fruit Lassi
Northern Monk Brew Co.

 

A great lassi IPA. It actually feels and tastes like a lassi. Much more than in the Omnipollo Bianca series, even if love those.

L - Very hazy amber with a thin white head

S - Very tropical with mango, passionfruit, papaya. A hint of citrusy acidity and fine caramel presence

T - follow the taste with a milk sweetness. Just a hint of citrus tartness to balance the sweetness

M - Maybe the best part of this beer. The oat and lactose bring a nice velevety mouthfeel. It actually feels like your drinking a tall glass of milk.

O - The great mouthfeel and the important sweetness makes it quite easy to drink. Maybe too much. Your glass is empty before you notice it

Pours murky amber/orange into a tulip glass. Plenty of sediment kicking up in the swirl. The two finger-three finger white head is close and foamy. Bubbles are small and there's some sudsy lacing left behind. I can smell it from here.

This is definitely all passionfruit, mango, orange and tropicana in the nose. There's something very aromatic in there too almost like an aloe vera-style hoppiness; quite floral and grassy underneath. But that fruit, this is going to be a juicy one for sure.

Jesus. This thing is eye squintingly sweet on the sip - like they've blended a passionfruit farm and mixed it right into the wort. That's all you get for a good 6-7 seconds before peach jumps in, nectarine, mango, orange and some artificial sweetness. Afterwards it evolves right there on the tongue into a more doughy, bready and biscuity ale with some pine biterness on the backend providing a freshness. But wait there's more; coconut cream, white grape, mango lassi and grassy hops make up the aftertaste.

It feels medium-full bodied, creamy and gooey with mild carbonation and a wet finish. That booze isn't very noticeable after a while. I can't tell for a short moment if I'm drinking an IPA or a smoothie because it coats the mouth like yoghurt. But it doesn't start that way when you take a sip, it's half way through the swallow and it just changes shape into an IPA stout.

At first I was turned inside out by the sugar but after acclimatising it turns into a different experience altogether. It balances itself out in about three separate stages on the palate and before long it grows on you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Northern Monk just replaced the vat with Um Bongo.