Wednesday 2 December 2009

Thornbridge Jaipur and Kipling

I have been terribly remiss in not writing up these tasting notes sooner. I thought I had! These two beers were part of a set sent to me by fellow blogger, Mark Dredge (Mr. Pencil and Spoon himself), as part of a pre-beerswap, along with some rather tasty beers from Ramsgate, and a White Shield that's currently languishing in my cellar. I drank them about two months ago. Goes to show the backlog of notes I seem to be building up!

I'd heard much about the Thornbridge Jaipur IPA, with most people praising it, and one dissenter, so I was eager to try this. A pale amber with a dense head that lasts well, the aroma suggested pineapple cubes to me, freshly squuezed lemon, grapefruit and a biscuity base. The flavour is fruity, with a big juicy body up front, and a touch of perfume about it. It delivers pithy orange, grenadine, hay, grass. It's certainly hop driven, and has a nice oily mouthfeel. As soon as it's swallowed it dries up, leaving a robust, earthy bitterness. The lasting impression is of mouth-puckering hoppiness, while being rich and oily. As it warms it also starts to deliver a pleasing spiciness. Rather nice!

And so on to the Thornbridge Kipling, with its buttery gold colour and a fruity aroma, suggesting blackcurrant, passion fruit and a light touch of mandarin orange. Soft malts play a supporting role, but hte main flavour is that fruitiness, presumably loaded in there by the use of Nelson Sauvin hops. Passion fruit, grass, and an ever-so-slight hint of lemon sherbet. Actually, the fruity profile reminded me a bit of the Galaxy hops I'd used in the past. I really like these southern-hemisphere hop characters. A soft mouthfeel and gentle carbonation make this medium-bodied, and quite satisfying. I think I'd prefer a touch more carbonation to liven things up, but it's a juicy, moreish beer.

Thanks Mark!

14 comments:

The Beer Nut said...

Didn't like either of these when I had them on cask. Interesting about the biscuity aspect of Jaipur, since it was all watery hop juice when I had it.

Kipling's fruitiness was nice, but there was a sort of thin porridgey thing going beside it that I didn't care for.

I must give them another try if I see them again.

Barry M said...

I'd be interested to see if you get a different impression from the bottled versions. Are these available in Dublin at all?

The Beer Nut said...

Nope.

Mark Dredge said...

FINALLY!! :)

I like these beers a lot. Jaipur is one of the best cask beers I've had all year. TBN must've got a bad one, sadly. You both need to hop on over to England, we'll meet in Sheffield and head out to the Coach and Horses.

Mmm Jaipur!

BeerReviewsAndy said...

mmmm Jaipur, you really need to try halcyon mate ;o)

Leigh said...

I have to concur - despite the hype, I really do like Thornbridge's beers. Jaipur was the sole reason i went to specific beer festival last year and it didnt disappoint. I love the malt/biscuit backbone of it. forward-thinking young fellers, too.

Barry M said...

Mark, buy TBN a pint of it if you see him at the Pig's Ear. Although people will be buying you pints as congrats :)

Andy, I'd be more than happy to try the Halcyon!

Leigh, I wasn't aware there was a hype. Well, apart from reading about Mr. Dredge waxing lyrical about them :D Seems I'm insulated form some of hit living over here :)

Leigh said...

Hi mate - the hype for Thornbridge happened about a year or so ago, shortly after Oz Clarke spent an entire episode of his beer programme bigging them up - for a while it was the only independent brewer in the UK, it seemed. Nowhere near 'Brewdog Levels' though! And, in this case, the hype was more than justified, i felt - which is more than can be said for some other breweries...can't help enthusiastic blogging! It's what make the world go round!!

Barry M said...

Ahh, I didn't realise Oz had done that. No TV for the past nearly-two-years :)

And I understand. I'm always up for the little guys :)

BeerReviewsAndy said...

my thoughts on halcyon are on my blog ;o) should we ever get round to doing an intercontinental beer swap i will send u one!

Kelly Ryan said...

Cheers for the nice comments guys, always appreciated.

The Beer Nut - if you ever make it over Sheffield way, would be awesome for you to pop into the Coach and Horses in Dronfield and will shout you a pint. Hopefully the beers taste a little better than when you had them!

Kelly Ryan
Thornbridge Brewery

The Beer Nut said...

Cheers Kelly. Would love to.

I finally got a handle on TT Landlord yesterday, after several false starts, so I'm sure there's hope for Jaipur yet :P

Rob Sterowski said...

Can I pretend to have had a bad pint to get a free one?

Barry M said...

I'd consider complaining myself, but I'd clearly be lying. Although I haven't had it on cask... :P