After a damn long week with way too much work and a Friday full of moderation of a business event, it was time for a relaxing beer and therefore, I found something very special. Still a left over from my Xmas calendar.
This one was waiting in my fridge since a few days or even weeks so I decided it’s time to help the beer out of the bottle for this evening.
Grabbed a bottle of Hopnytized New England IPA from Enigma Belgian Brewery today. That label though - psychedelic skull with green flames shooting out, colors swirling everywhere like some 70s album cover. You know it's gonna be interesting before you even pop the cap. I was thinking to search for my old record from Tangerine Dream or something like this.
pic by sklepimpuls.pl
Mark Veugelers started Enigma back in 2016. The guy's a biochemist who spent years in his basement messing around with recipes - we're talking 400+ different brews before he settled on the keepers. Now they're brewing at Brouwerij Anders in Halen, doing all sorts of experimental stuff with yeast and hops. Their whole thing is "Decipher the Enigma of beer" which sounds pretentious but honestly, they back it up.
So this thing sits at 8% but you wouldn't guess it from drinking. That's the sketchy part - goes down way too easy for something that strong. They double dry-hopped it with Mosaic and Citra, which means you're getting hit with tropical fruit from every angle. Mango, passion fruit, peach, grapefruit - the whole fruit basket is in there. There's this slight sticky, resinous thing happening too, but the bitterness is pretty tame considering it's rated at 45 IBUs. Classic NEIPA profile - hazy, juicy, dangerously drinkable.
The worldwide beer community agree with a solid 3.64 rating on Untappd where over 13,000 people left reviews .
One of the reviewers, Matthias Heimann, wrote there:
"Belgian fruit bomb. Nice and dense. Fresh. Velvety texture. Great foam."
Source)
Another user, kobetheuwis, kept it simple but on point:
"Very fruity, delicious!"
Source)
This was a perfect ending of this week full of work and the Hopnytized does everything right for a New England IPA. That wild label isn't just for show - the beer inside matches the energy.
Belgians don't mess around when they decide to make an American style IPA, and this beer proves it again. If you're into hazy IPAs and see this one, grab it. All the people on Untappd can't be wrong.
Cheers! 🍺
@Detlev loves HIVE
