Gypsy Inc: Tipsy Gypsy & Pale Trail

A couple of beers I picked up from BrewDog when I put an order in a while back that really impressed me. From what I can see Gypsy Inc. are not so much a brewery as such but beers brewed by a collective of brewers. The project itself is headed up by Mikkeller but I think these particular beers are brewed at BrewDog.

A lot of time I find that modern beers seem to be a bit alcohol heavy. I'm a huge fan of big hoppy IPAs and Imperial Stouts but sometimes I think that some brewers are guilty of ramping up the abv to give the beer a kick rather than letting the flavours do the talking. I'm sure it also helps that there is more of a premium for higher abv beers which means that it can be more cost-effective to use more expensive, flavour enhancing, ingredients on them. Both of these came in at below 5% (4.7% to be exact) but were packed with flavour, making them perfect for a mid-week summer evening.

Tipsy Gypsy: Lots of peach and passion fruit on the palate, and with a prickly grapefruit hop-bite on the finish that invites you back for more. Definitely a very quaffable beer.

Pale Trail: This was rather more conventional American style Pale Ale, there was a lot more citrus on this one but the passion fruit was there again. Mellow, with enough of a hop kick to keep things interesting.

All in all a couple of excellent little beers!

Mikkeller 'I Beat yoU'

An American-inspired India pale ale that's brewed in Scotland by the Danes? Now there's probably not a lot of them about, but here it is, an Imperial IPA, which I suppose is appropriate as a globe-trotting style right from the origin.

Powerful hop aromas explode from the bottle even before pouring - lots of the aromas associated with other members of the hemp family. Amber colour with a rapidly disappearing lacy head. It's full-bodied, with a sweetness from the alcohol and not too much carbonation. Lots of vegetal flavours; grass and pine with orange and other citrus fruit, and the finish is all hops. I did wonder after the initial aroma burst whether I might be put off by the excessive hops, but actually it was quite palatable. If anything I found the sweetness more off-putting, and by the end of the bottle it was a bit cloying, it kind of felt like I was drinking an undiluted hop cordial, it just needed to be a bit more refreshing. However, a good range of flavours, and an enjoyable beer.

9.75% abv. £3.99 (33cl) from Beers of Europe