Poppyland Pilot

Limited edition 6.3% ABV, 47 IBU, American style IPA
Bottle conditioned.
Released 30 June 2012.

This is a continuation of my exploration of the IPA style of beer. I have used various hops in the past, the most recent being Motueka from New Zealand. The 2012 harvest had not reached Britain yet (it was still on the ship in May when I wanted it) so I used Summit from the USA instead, backed up by Columbus and Cascade. The colour of this beer is deep amber. It pours with a good white head with plenty of hop aroma in the glass. The first sip confirms that this is a hoppy, aromatic American style IPA. It is fresh and easy drinking with complex hop flavours and aroma dominating over bitterness.

The recipe was based on pale malted barley from Branthill Farm, Wells next the Sea, with a touch of crystal, cara malt and a little wheat. Three American hops were used in the boil: Cascade, Columbus and Summit. It was fermented with American yeast (US-05). Then, during secondary fermentation more hops were added for extra aroma and flavour. The batch was split into two and Summit was used in the larger gyle and Columbus in the other and this has resulted in two distinctive beers. The Summit is lighter, zesty and more citrus and the Columbus more earthy and woody. Both are delicious.

Italian brewer Edoardo Raimondi (ex-White Dog Brewery near Modena) describes the flavour profile like this:

Questa birra e' come una signorina timida e un po' arrogante: amara, secca e frizzante dove la gasatura e' piena ma molto sottile. Il genere di ragazza con la quale adoro conversare durante un aperitivo. Dopo 10/15 min. inizia a mostrarsi, e finiti i convenevoli scopri che ha anche note di toffee e albicocca, un carattere apparentemente dolce…ma sono aromi, quindi invitala a cena ma non farle troppi complimenti, altrimenti lei stanchera' di te, e tu non avrai piu niente da bere.

This beer is like a young lady is who is shy and a bit arrogant: it is bitter, dry and has a sparkling carbonation, with a stream of small bubbles. This is the type of girl that I love to talk to during an aperitif. After 10 or 15 minutes she begins to show her real character and when we have finished with the niceties I discover hints of toffee and apricot, a character of aromas ... but not overly sweet. You may invite her for dinner but you do not have to be too sweet with her, or she may tire of you and be gone and you will have nothing more to drink.

This beer was brewed on 16 May 2012 by Martin Warren at the Elveden Ales Brewery with water drawn from the Chalk aquifer in a private borehole. It was finished at the Iceni Brewery at Ickburgh, Norfolk and bottled on 31 May then matured until release on 30 June. It is the inaugural ale from Poppyland Brewery based in Cromer, Norfolk. As with all Poppyland beers this was a limited edition and only 198 x 660 ml bottles were produced of which only about 160 got to market.

This beer is best drunk slowly (if you can) to appreciate all the hop aromas. Serve it cool (10 degrees C) and notice how the flavours change as the drink goes down and the temperature rises. It is delicious on its own or would be a perfect accompaniment to an Indian curry or strong Cheddar cheese, bread and pickles.

This is a living beer, with yeast in the bottle, so take care not to shake it. Store it in a cool place and pour carefully to avoid disturbing the sediment.