We want to make every beer, well. But Westies are absolutely our go to. You see, when we first got into good beer, during the lupulin threshold shift of the early 2000s, the race was on to double dank your mouth-holes with a super saturation of IBU. The sulfidic, aggressively dry and resinous character of American IPA left a bedazzled couple of youngsters, eager to recapitulate the likes of Green Flash, Sierra Nevada, Anchor and Russian River.
And so this week we are heroing the Westie. An amorphous, sub-part-pseudo-synonymous-American IPA. A marketing term to differentiate from its Eastern brethren, with distinct character. Aggressively hopped with classic and modern varieties that highlight dank, weedy, piney, citrus and resinous flavours and mouthfeel. No crystal malt, a low finishing gravity and a sulfate dominate salt ratio leaves a bitter, dry, drinkable, refreshing experience. IBUs are on the higher end, but nothing like the good old Mikkeller 1000 IBU days. The overall impression is a hop heavy, resinous but clean IPA with a snappy finish and lingering but clean peppery bitterness.
One of the first ways we evaluate a new beer is on its appearance. It’s often the first sensory input we have for assessing a beer. It gives a prelude to flavour and finesse. I have, personally, always loved the crystal clear nature of a good Westie. And while every brewer is well entitled to their opinion on the level of haze in a Westie, we’ve gone with a clear as version. So for the last three days I’ve been filtering one batch of Westie for our birthday. It’s been a real dick. I hate filtering, brewing, Shield, this stupid blog thing, your face and life. So while there is a lot more to Westies than this lil old ramble, that’s about me for the next few days weeks.
And so this week we are heroing the Westie. An amorphous, sub-part-pseudo-synonymous-American IPA. A marketing term to differentiate from its Eastern brethren, with distinct character. Aggressively hopped with classic and modern varieties that highlight dank, weedy, piney, citrus and resinous flavours and mouthfeel. No crystal malt, a low finishing gravity and a sulfate dominate salt ratio leaves a bitter, dry, drinkable, refreshing experience. IBUs are on the higher end, but nothing like the good old Mikkeller 1000 IBU days. The overall impression is a hop heavy, resinous but clean IPA with a snappy finish and lingering but clean peppery bitterness.
One of the first ways we evaluate a new beer is on its appearance. It’s often the first sensory input we have for assessing a beer. It gives a prelude to flavour and finesse. I have, personally, always loved the crystal clear nature of a good Westie. And while every brewer is well entitled to their opinion on the level of haze in a Westie, we’ve gone with a clear as version. So for the last three days I’ve been filtering one batch of Westie for our birthday. It’s been a real dick. I hate filtering, brewing, Shield, this stupid blog thing, your face and life. So while there is a lot more to Westies than this lil old ramble, that’s about me for the next few days weeks.
