Kiwi
Equilibrium Brewery

 

Pours a murky, drab orange color. Completely opaque. About an inch of bubbly foam forms on the beer when its poured, but quickly dissipates leaving a chunky ring of foam along the outside of the top of the beer, lots of sticky lacing on the glass and a thin film of foam on top of the beer.

Aroma has notes of white grape, chardonnay, tropical fruit, citrus giving way to a light earthy/woody note, and some grass. Lighter notes of biscuity malts come through underneath the hop aromas.

Taste follows the nose with notes of white grape, chardonnay, tangerine, nectarine and generic tropical punch. The hops also provide a certain woodiness or earthiness to the profile with some grassy notes on the back end. Moderately bitter. Light cracker/biscuty malt backbone underlies the hops.

Feel is smooth, pillowy, pretty easy drinking. Moderate carbonation.

Overall its a very nice IPA. It does a nice job of showcasing the NZ hops.

 

Kiwi from Equilbirum is as soft as a pillow. It is peppery, has balanced hops, and a bit of white grape juice. Very tame for a DDH.

IG: @firesidewithphil

A: Pours a murky golden orange in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and a moderate peach + apricot + pale orange + bright yellow + pale golden yellow colored highlights. The beer has a three finger tall dense creamy sudsy foamy off-white head that slowly reduces to a medium sized patch of thick film covering just shy of 40% of the surface of the beer surrounded by a large patch of mottled very thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a medium thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of juicy citrus/lime + tropical/mango + tropical/passionfruit + white grape hops as well as moderate aromas of earthy + spicy/white pepper hops. Light to moderate aromas of biscuit + pale + oat malts with a light amount of sugary sweetness.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of biscuit + pale + oat malts with a light amount of sugary sweetness. That is followed by just shy of moderate flavors of earthy + spicy/white pepper hops. Finally there are moderate to strong flavors of citrus/orange + citrus/grapefruit pith + citrus/lime + tropical/mango + tropical/passionfruit + white grape hops which impart a light amount of bitterness which fades away leaving moderate lingering citrus + citrus pith + spicy/white pepper hop flavors.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly crisp initially with a moderate amount of creamy soft/fluffiness mid-body with a light amount of dryness in the finish.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a pleasantly creamy soft/fluffy mouthfeel. Enjoyable and does a great job of highlighting the New Zealand hops used - not overly sweet and with the added hints of earthy + white pepper.

Released 3/8/21; drank 5/1/21 @ Hannah & Kenser's.

Opaque dull orange appearance.

A rough pour yielded a HUGE off-white head; thick, frothy lace.

Dry grass, orange peel, cream & faint caramel notes in the nose.

Sticky medium thick mouthfeel.

Cream, lemon, grass & orange peel flavors; it tasted better than it smelled. I'd have another!

 

 

Tasted in a Spiegelau IPA glass from a one pint can on March 28, 2021. Brewed with Citra then dry-hopped with Riwaka, Nelson and Citra. Notes of mango, orange and passionfruit.

Equilibrium is an odd brewery to me, in that they're a hyped-up brewer that I have had some superb experiences with, balanced out by a handful of beers by them that have just been alright where I've been kinda left wondering why they would bother putting them out. Not that anything they've done has been bad, per se, but some of their ideas seem really redundant and repetitive. This one breaks out of the "wow everything we do is named after physics!!" mode, and I almost thought it was a different brewery entirely, though it was sitting next to EQ's other recent stuff. After reading that it featured Nelson and Riwaka AND is by EQ, I was intrigued to say the least. By the way, I was happy to see this had a visible can date on it (3/8/21). Some EQ stuff lately has been a little lax on the dating, which is a pet peeve of mine for sure.

The pour here is pretty much what you typically expect from Equilibrium: opaque, orange-yellow, decent head that builds up to a couple fingers before settling down to a thin ring, modest legs, and good-to-great lace patterns. This definitely falls into the "awesome lace" subcategory, though, and the whole thing looks nice in my glass. Yeah, it's a hazy juice-bomb, for sure, but if you appreciate that kind of thing, you should love the way this hits your glass.

The nose here is superb and extremely enticing in a way very few Nelson-focused beers I've had recently have been able to touch on. I find Nelson to be a tough-to-utilize hop because some of its flavors and complexities are so delicate that they have a hard time existing in tandem with certain other "competitive" hops and in the context of certain malt bills. Right upfront here, though, I get an insane amount of Sauvignon blanc grape must, wonderfully tart, juicy gooseberry, guava, grassiness, seaside minerals, and fresh-squeezed/blended orange-grapefruit juice. It's got a bit of passion fruit too, which makes sense given the heavy-handed Riwaka inclusion. Overall, this smells delightful. I am incredibly impressed, and I haven't even sipped it yet.

Jeez, this is saturated. It's definitely a fruit-juice-cup in a glass, that's for sure, though there are some light notes of minerality, herbs/florals, and a somewhat damp and intriguing earthiness. Hard to describe, but the bright and semi-acidic wine-like character of Nelson brings out some unusual aspects in certain recipes, and here it is giving off a lot of earthy flavors alongside its typical tropical fruit approach. Slight spice and more florals layered in as it warms a bit. Hints of musky melon and peach in there, too. Lots going on and it's never a boring drink. Always captivating, keeping me guessing as I sip. Love this.

Feel is soft and supple, but I think it might actually be almost a little too velvety for this recipe. Don't get me wrong, this is great... I just think a bit more carbonation and a slightly grainier mid-palate would have brought this to a level very few beers I know of could touch. As it stands, this is fantastic, and definitely the best EQ DIPA I've had yet. Like I said before, a lot of their stuff seems a bit same-y and their yeast is pretty much straightforward "NEIPA" standard, but this is head-and-shoulders above some of their other output. Absolutely great if you're a NZ hop fan. You will be rewarded by this one.

 

 

 

A: The beer is very hazy to cloudy pale dark yellow in color. It poured with a half finger high head that died down, leaving a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface and lots of lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of gooseberries, green grapes and lime are present in the nose.
T: The taste has flavors of gooseberries with notes of limes and grapefruit as well as hints of oranges. A slight amount of bitterness is perceptible.
M: It feels medium-bodied and rather juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The smell and taste of this beer is all about New Zealand hops.

Serving type: can

 

 

Milky canary yellow. Frothy, lofty pith white head simmers down to a session lasting cream-line cap. Lace rings interspersed by spotty astrals. Aroma is redolent of tropical fruit and citrus--passionfruit, orange peel--framed by elegant notes of jasmine flower, light toast grain, and honeysuckle. The flavor is what I would describe as otherworldly and quixotic except NZ is a real place to get hops from, and I am drinking this right now. I'm experiencing lime and grapefruit, white peach, apricot, soft honeydew, and mild mango with floral overtones. The serendipity of the gravel-laced subsoils give rise to leaner, but never sharp, flavors of rose-petal, lychee, loquat, and spice shadings. It has an ample body and a soothing texture while never losing its sense of balance and proportion.