Beer review: Gipsy Hill Brewing Co. – Drifter IPA 7%

Pours rich and thick as haar, hazy yellow with a nice off white head.  This is Drifter, Gipsy Hill Brewing’s’ take on an East Coast style IPA. This year’s release from the South London brewery has two kinds of oats and uses Lallemands NE yeast. The yeast was chosen to hold in suspension producing the distinctive haze of the style and really push the tropical fruit notes on the nose, which it does very successfully!

The carbonation fizzes on the tongue before the oats smooth the body out. You get lots of mango and pineapple before El Dorado, BBC Ekuanot and Azzaca hops bring the bitterness surging in coating your mouth and hanging around until the next mouthful and well after.

Gipsy Hill were a new brewery to me and I think this easily stands up to the big haze hitters like Verdant and Cloudwater who do this style so well.  Be quick, this drinks so easily and on a sunny day is hard to resist, can’t see it hanging around long! Pouring now at The Craftsman Company.

Thanks to Lisa MacLeod for the review!

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