Backbone Splitter
Hanscraft & Co.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a clear, deep amber coloration with a medium, fluffy, lasting head and slightly visible carbonation. Smells slightly grainy, caramel malt and citrus/tropical hops, with notes of grapefruit and mango, as well as some almost pungent herbal accents. Taste is great balance of slightly grainy, caramel malt and pungent herbal and slightly resinous and spicy, as well as citrus/tropical hops, with notes of grapefruit, tangerine, mango, pine and black pepper. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some citrus, pine and herbal accents lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

I think that this is widely considered to be one of the best "Supermarket IPAs" you can buy in Germany, and with good reason, although it is also generally considered to be a WCIPA, which I'm not so sure of. Perhaps it would be best to characterize it as "German WCIPA" and it does that very well with its medium, grainy, caramel backbone and rather herbal and somewhat spicy and resinous, as well as fruity hops. Personally, I think it's a bit too sweet and grainy and not quite bitter and resinous enough, but it kinda makes up for that with those pungent herbal and spicy notes, which give this a unique feel and make for a rather enjoyable IPA in its own way.

 

 

 

Colour: light copper, very nice turbidity. head is fluffy but is really gone quick. Nice aroma of mango, maracuija and sweet pineapple. Good drinkability: sweet beginning with honey-like and malty flavours followed by fruity and spicy notes. this beer is tasting really fresh and some like etheric (Simcoe??) but in my opinion a little too much of that "boozy" aroma, could be more balanced.

 

L: Normal honey coloring, very low head, not to many bubbles
S: Juicy fruit, pineapple, mango, orange, hints of malt
T: Great fruity juicy taste, definitely hop forward with the malt just adding a slight sweet ending, very sweet tasting
F: Smooth beer, flows nicley around the mouth, good carbonation
O: For a German IPA I'd say this is in the Elite category. Its better than a lot of other American IPA's I've had. It's got all the right flavors your looking for and very smooth.

 

Brewed with Horizon, Amarillo, Centennial, and Simcoe hops; Pilsener, Muenchner, Wiener, and Caraamber malts. BBD of 25.11.16

Lightly hazy orange with minimal head. Aroma is also light, but exceptionally fresh and fruity. Perhaps even more so than fruity is a freshly cut, wet grass/resiny aroma that makes this beer refreshing before even tasting it. Taste is very much resinous and piney, with the 60 IBUs definitely present. However, I like how the bitterness is fully integrated into some caramel sweet maltiness. Mouthfeel is thick and sticky, especially given the 6,6%. The body alone feels like a 8%+ DIPA.
Overall, great IPA, and nice to see such a dank quality from one out of Germany, where the tend to be a bit too bitter for me.