Aftermath : Double India Pale Ale
KAIJU! Beer

 

 

 

On-draught @ Kaiju Cantina.

Boozy warmth. Rich pale malt and caramalt. Booze-soaked fruit (apricot, maybe peach). A bit of lingering bitterness is present, but honestly it's a bit syrupy in its malt sweetness. I can't tell if it's underhopped, over malted, or both. I do know that it's not very good...

C / AVERAGE

 

 

375 ml can. Packaged on date 01/06/2019. Poured into a tulip.
Look: Poured a dark orange copper with about 1cm of fluffy white head. Little bubbles that stick around for a while. Looks pretty good.
Smell: orange, citrus, pine, possibly some stonefruit.
Taste: Much like the smell. Citrus upfront, orange and grapefruit. Piney and grassy flavours follow, quite robust. A little bit of malt sweetness in there as well, but dominated by the hops. Strong bitter aftertaste comes through, a little herbal. Delicious.
Feel: Mid bodied, a little oily. Some tingly carbonation. A little dry not a long length of flavour.
Overall: Delicious fruity double IPA.

I really like KAIJU! - at least according to my BeerAdvocate ratings which has me polling them above average on 4 of the 5 beers I’ve reviewed versus a multitude of tickers (i.e. people who feel that they can somewhat randomly attribute points to a beer in a haphazard instantaneous fashion). I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, maybe (well not maybe) taste is subjective, I’ve met the brewers and maybe I’ve developed an unconscious bias based on that, but I really like KAIJU! I like that they’re pushing boundaries that some Australian brewers are “meh” about. I like that they jam a massive amount of hop cones into each brew. I like that Nat didn’t give a fuck about me telling him his beers were expensive. I’m ready for Aftermath [comes science?].

Poured from a 375ml can into a Duvel tulip.

A: Perfect hazed amber - about as good a colour as any Double India Pale Ale: Ever. Head is off-white, began at 2 centimetres and dropped back to a thin blanket, leaving small splotches of lace on the inside of the glass. 9/10.

S: Can smell the aroma without even lifting the glass to my nose - bubble gum, Starburst orange candy, piney resin hints. Then I brought the glass to my nose, wow! This is one fresh DIPA, straight up hop flower aroma, piney/forest floor hints, that rubbery note you get when hops are really fresh in a beer, jackfruit. Yep, this is a real hop bomb, spectacular! 9/10.

T: Surprisingly the flavour doesn’t hit you with a bushel of wet hops - this is one well moderated DIPA. Flavours of the above: bubble gum, Starburst orange candy, piney resin, forest floor, rubbery note, jackfruit. The amazing part in this hopstravaganza™ is how mild the bitterness in the finish is. It’s medium at best. You more get a hop tingle on the tongue - to say “hey, hops is here mon”. 9/10.

M: Medium bodied with a decent presence of hop oils and a dense but thin carbonation. Given the 9.1% ABV it could probably use a bit more body... but then it doesn’t need more body, it’s pretty spot on the way it is. 9/10.

D: It’s been a great year for Aussie IIPAs with this (yes this has been out for a while now) and Green Beacon Uppercut, which I called 2017’s best IIPA. I’ve got to say they’re both great for different reasons: Uppercut is a tropical 8% facepunch, whereas Aftermath is a 9.1% bubble-gum/orange candy buttkick. Uppercut has this on being more responsible, but this beer is a platform for awesomeness, and hops. Just don’t ask me to pick between my children. 10/10.

Food match: Vietnamese, then Thai, and then stomach pump: in that order.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a solid 2 fingers of head initially. Big citrus/pineapple smell. Sticky, chewy, slightly bitter, nice mouth feel. No bad aftertaste. Good lacing throughout. Superb local beer. Highly recommended.

 

 

Hands down my favorite double IPA.

Pours dark amber with a large head.
Nose shows pungent grassy, hoppy and herbal notes along with sweet heavy malt.
Similar flavours; pine, resin and caramel followed by a hoppy bitterness in the finish.