Fruit IPA – English: Pressure Drop Nanban Kanpai

Although the weather is getting worse, I’m going to crack on with a few more warm (or humid and cloudy) weather beers that I think are great. This week a Wheat Beer/IPA/Fruit Beer mash up from a local brewery, Pressure Drop (Hackney, London). This is a wheat IPA brewed with Oranges and some other citrus fruits. This one is a serious refresher, and seems to be a limited edition or rotating brew as it isn’t even mentioned on the brewery’s website.

Let’s start with Pressure Drop’s description:

Wheat IPA brewed with Yuzu, Orange and Grapefruit

An extremely short description of the beer from Pressure Drop, but they are always a company that leave the tasting notes to you and the rubbish about evil corporate brewers behind. I always get the impression that they don’t bother themselves with anything apart from brewing some good beers.

After doing a little bit of research and talking to their representatives at London Craft Beer Festival I discovered a little bit about the recipe. First, we have the malts which I believe to be, 50% Pale Malt and 50% Wheat Malt. As for the hops, I think they have used Citra and Riwaka hops to go with the Yuzu, Orange and Grapefruit. The hops and fruit really compliment each other and it’s a great choice for this recipe. Whoever came up with this recipe know what they’re talking about!

When you pour this beer it seems quite flat and doesn’t leave much of a head, but it’s an impressive cloudy bright orange. The next thing you notice is a crazy citrus and tropical fruit smell coming from the glass which is unlike any other smell I’ve had from a beer before. You also get some gooseberry, a strange tropical juice and blood orange. This is truly a unique brew before you even taste it! After tasting, initial notes of grapefruit and orange rind, some lychee finishing with lots of tangerine and grapefruit reminiscent Yuzu fruit. As I said this beer isn’t really that carbonated, but it has just enough to make the flavours sparkle. It finishes very sweet but with sour undertones. I can imagine drinking this beer on a beach out of a pineapple! This really is a beer for beer lovers, and one to introduce cocktail lovers to what beer can really be like!

Overall, this is a truely unique brew and I recommend you try it!

You can purchase Nanban Kanpai in the UK at:

Bottledog, Kings Cross

Eebria

Alesela

As I said, it is a limited/rotating release so I’d recommend checking back occasionally if it’s out of stock.

For any bars/shops that would like to stock Pressure Drop beer, I’d recommend contacting the brewery directly. But please be aware, they don’t have barcodes on the bottles!

EST. CALORIES: 195   ABV: 6.5%