Brouhaha Brewery Double IPA
Brouhaha Brewery

As you all know by now my style yardstick for a new brewery (if they have one) is the venerable Double IPA. As a style it is eminently easy to get wrong, it’s the beer equivalent of a train wreck when it falls to pieces. This isn’t the first beer I tried from Maleny (a place in Queensland, Queenstra... Australia) brewer Brouhaha, I had a sip of a wheat beer of theirs. It was average. However I give every brewer a second chance, and when I noticed this DIPA at my local Black Sheep Bottle Shop - I thought “give Brouhaha another go”. Plus every good brewer has a love of puns and this beer looks like it says “Double DIPA” on the label... double dipper, genius! How could I resist? (no I’m not a Dad, why does everyone keep asking me that?).

Poured from a 375ml can into a nonic pint.

A: Slightly hazed caramel-amber body with an exceedingly big cream-coloured 1 inch head that took a great deal longer than expected to subside... I mean I was able to type that entire sentence and still had time to read today’s news before I had a sip. It was all about Trump again “I’m so sick of that guy” *Dr. Nick Riviera voice*. 8/10.

S: Jackfruit - big Jackfruit (tropical/bubblegum if you’re unfamiliar) notes straight off. Settles into a papaya/caramel hop/malt combo, bit of resin/green hop notes as well... surprisingly this is a real contender up against the likes of Pirate Life IIPA, Modus Zoo Feeder and Blackman’s Angry Reg. I haven’t had PL IIPA for a while but I reckon this out-Jackfruits that Jackfruit heavy brew. 9/10.

T: Noice! Reminds me of Victory DirtWolf in all the right ways - flavoursome without being overbearing: check. Tropical fruit forward: check. Sweet/bitter well balanced: check. Aftertaste not crazy bitter: check. So this is more of an East Coast IPA then. Flavours are: Jackfruit, papaya, earthy, caramel with a hint of pine resin. Very easy-drinking for 8.5% ABV. Odd cardboard character in aftertaste though... cracks begin to appear... still it’s a good DIPA. 8/10.

M: Mouthfeel is a bit of a weak point: needs more body TBH. Medium-ish bodied with a thin carbonation. 7/10.

D: Look I was going to say “for a Maleny brewer this is surprisingly good” then I realised I would have to explain my whole rationale for that statement and frankly I couldn’t be bothered. It’s good. Get it. Enjoy it. Wonder what that cardboard note in the aftertaste is all about. Forget that and enjoy it some more. Drunk-text your partner. Polish off the glass. Get another [it’s sold out] :( . 8/10.

Food match: Vietnamese lemongrass beef salad is a solid DIPA go-to of mine.