Well, we are currently in Greece and I decided that it will be a great idea to bring one of my birthday beers with me. I know Greek beers. They also have some pretty good and tasty hop bombs, but given the fact we are renting a house in a small village, it would be so hard, or even impossible, to find a craft beer shop.
I picked one collaboration beer and decided that it would be doos to have a juicy Double IPA in the heat of Greek summer.
The brewery is called “The Northern Monk”. It is a collaboration beer, as I mentioned and they brew it together with Rivington brewery. Both breweries are located in England and they made this beer with the name “Order of the North”. The styling is the can is rather unusual and I cannot think of another beer with this kind of design. It looks more like a video game of some sort.
So, outside temperature was very high when we arrived at this house. I desperately needed some refreshment and put the van directly in the fridge. The beer was not very warm, because I was keeping it fresh as much as I could while we travelled so 20 minutes in the fridge did the job of cooling the can perfectly.
And what a surprise! The water glasses that were available at the house were like pints, so what a perfect combo for this beer. The IPAs love pints and if you order one in a craft beer bar, you’ll most probably be served in this kind of a glass. The table outside was truly artistic and I like the way it was accompanying the beer’s color an haziness.
I didn’t expect this level of haziness, but being a double dry hopped IPA it makes it clear that the haziness is due to the heavy hop infusion. The color is a feast for the eyes and I really couldn’t wait more. Let’s try this beauty!
The hops had added a lot of juiciness and tropical fruit flavors to the beer and it was still dry, like a proper IPA. Bitterness on a relatively high levels too. The aftertaste was very pronounced pine and this bitterness was very pleasurable and lasting. Definitely a very decent IPA.
The carbonation was on relatively low levels, but with this kind of a beer it’s better sometimes to keep it low, for a better perception of the flavors. I didn’t really need more carbon dioxide inside my beer.
Overall, I think this was a very balanced and tasteful brew. I’m extremely happy with the amount of flavor and freshness it exploded in my mouth. I’m also happy that I decided to bring this exact beer from my birthday present with me. Now, I’ll have to wait to go back in Bulgaria and have another craft beer.
Best wishes and have a nice week!
See you soon back from Bulgaria! 😉