Poggi E Volpi
Birrificio MalaRipe

MalaRipe “Poggi & Volpi”
33cl can coded “da consumare preferibilmente entro fine / Lotto n˚: 04 26”.
€6 @ L’ArtigianAle Beer Shop, Verona, IT

Notes via stream of consciousness: It’s poured a cloudy golden body beneath a large head of fluffy white foam. It looks something like a hefeweizen but it doesn’t have all of the bubbles rising within it, and the head is just too fluffy. My first impression of the hops in the aroma is that it’s Galaxy. I could be wrong, and I’m sure there’s more there, seemingly Mosaic, but who really knows? I guess the brewers do. It’s got a kind of motor oil thing that I get from Galaxy, peach (which is in both Galaxy and Mosaic), passionfruit, and citrus (grapefruit, tangerine, hint of lemon/lime). On to the taste – the malt tastes like oats, which I love, and it’s sweetish and almost sugary. Is there wheat in there as well? Yes, I think so, and that gives it a little bit of a wider, bready flavor. What else is there in the hop flavor? Is there some sweet red berry? I think so. Maybe some lychee – yes. Ahh, I’m thinking there might be some Nelson Sauvin as I’m getting a touch of gooseberry and white grape. I’m probably wrong about all of that BUT I’m not wrong that it tastes great. As for the bitterness it seems to be around 20-30 IBUs with some additional “hop burn”. There’s a presence of alcohol, as there should be at 7.5%, but it’s not at all brash or overdone, there’s just enough to let you know it’s there. In the mouth the oats and wheat have paid off giving it a bigger feeling than truly exists (it’s medium bodied), and a silky smoothness. I wasn’t exactly expecting a New England-style IPA from this as the label only reads “HAZY IPA” but that’s what I’ve got, and it’s really well done to boot. There are plenty of American brewers that still can’t pull off an NEIPA as good as this one.
Review #9,467