The Matriarch New England IPA
Co-Conspirators Brewing Company

CoConspirators: yet another new brewery on the scene in Melbourne and I am having trouble keeping up with new breweries popping up everywhere [it’s not a big problem to have]. First up from them is The Matriarch New England IPA, which has a really cool label on the can – like all their beers – and I hate to admit it but I am drawn in by cool marketing enough to warrant a purchase (or 2… and in this case 3 of their brews). There’s certainly a Venn diagram of beers with excellent labels/tasty beer within and a picture of me smiling where the twain meet, and not often are they only one or the other. So it’s interesting when I do come across excellently marketed beers that are lacklustre. That said I’m not expecting average beer here.

Poured from a 355ml can into a nonic pint.

A: Holy head space Batman! This wasn’t a hard pour but there’s a massive 4 centimetre white head on this baby. Body is murky AF and a pleasing Jonquil colour. Head settles leaving some remarkably good lace-work. 8/10.

S: Orange blossom, mango and banana lead the aroma of this veritable fruit salad, with a light biscuit malt base and lingering floral notes. This is indeed one of those “fruit juice-like” NEIPAs, not unlike Modus’s Future Factory IIPA and several other NEIPAs that blur the lines between beer and something you’d find in a juice box. 8/10.

T: Oooo, this ones got a bit of green/herbal hop bite to it as well, less like Future Factory and more like a fresh can of Hop Nation Jedi Juice then – which blurred lines between New England style/West Coast IPAs. Flavour profile starts out very much on the sweeter side with that orange/mango/banana combo, adds in some light biscuit malts, then cuts into the finish with green/herbal hops and a mild to medium bitterness. Balance see-saws from sweet to bitter with the effect that most bold beers have – and as they say “fortune favours the bold”. Wow I’m so into this NEIPA, great stuff! 9/10.

M: Medium bodied with hop oils lingering in the mouthfeel and a dense carbonation, also quite good given the 6.5% ABV. 8/10.

D: This is one spicy (with green hops) NEIPA, wish I had gotten my hands on a 4-pack of this because damn it’s a tasty brew. This reminds me of Jedi Juice in spades with the hops, and apart from being a touch sweet at the beginning this is a NEIPA I would have again and again, great work CoConspirators! 9/10.

Food match: A spicy Sang Choy Bau (with fresh chilli) wouldn’t go amiss here.