750 mL capped bottle.

Delightful pour into the 25 cl De Ranke stem. Clouded orange body with a small, perfectly formed dense white head that lingers and offers ice-cream level lace.

The bitterness that greets the palate on the initial sip is something whose depth is hard to achieve without bruising hop presence. The same is true of the accompanying sweetness, but of course here each are executed perfectly. Smooth in the mouth, the beer dances so gently along the soapy grapefruit line, whilst simultaneously offering spoonfuls of sugar along the way. It’s like a delicate, subtlety brewed old fashioned West Coast brewed IPA except with class and grace.

5.5% is perfectly pitched here, giving a little bite, and a gentle reminder of the grapefruit. A gentle touch of lemon citrus rind rounds out the beer’s bitterness.

This is the type of beer that can (mostly) only be brewed outside of the the United States. By that I mean that it has a depth of flavor and experience, via the hop profile, the body, mouthfeel and finish, that is so difficult to find alongside subtlety. Aftertaste offers further hop bitterness that is always building down the glass.

The baby brother of XX, simply a stunning beer that defies cloning – it’s a one-off each year (if that makes sense!)