Day 363: Jaipur IPA

Name: Jaipur IPA

Brewer: Thornbridge Brewery (Bakewell, England)

Classification: English IPA

Alcohol: 5.9%

Thoughts: Not many of the beers over the past year have been recommended by a television show, this is probably the first, but that is exactly what happened with this beer. I love BBC America. Between, The Inbetweeners, Top Gear and Friday Night Dinner it is an amazing channel. However, one program stands out for my purpose. It is James and Oz Drinks to Britain. James May from Top Gear and Oz Clarke , who is a wine expert, travel around the British Isles finding the perfect drink for Britain. During the show they both talked about how great Thornbridge's Jaipur IPA was. So I got myself a bottle of it. It pours a glorious orange/copper/gold with a minimal, highly carbonated head. The aroma is mulled a bit bit, but you can sense melon, and citrus and a genuine balance of malts and hops. When it comes to the great and complex taste there is really only a couple of notes that stand out above the usually IPA. The first is that this is not the usual IPA. Jaipur is exploding with ingenuity.  There is an assload of sweetness at the front, which is followed by a tender hoppy bitterness. It's like sweetness is a nymph being chased by a viking of bitterness down your gullet! In between the nymph and the viking is a profound melon and citrus taste that rests on the tongue liking a sitting Buddha. Since I only have 3 more beers after this I am confident in saying this in the most unique, independent IPA I have ever had. This is a tremendously accomplished and exciting beer. I would have been extremely happy to end this amazing year with Jaipur IPA, but I have a few more to go. Nonetheless, this is a beer to remember. I would dare say that it would be the beer I would have at my final supper. Fucking Incredible!

Rating: 94/100