Ölbeat 011: Hopping Brewsters Warthog IPA

Brewery: Hopping Brewsters
Country: Finland
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 5,4 %
@RateBeer

Some similarities between the warplane and Pumbaa?

Hopping Brewsters, started in 2013, is a Finnish microbrewery from Akaa in Pirkanmaa region. I have tasted some of their beers - i.e. this one and Starkadr, a special gruit ale - in fairs and pubs, but finding their bottlings in stores and Alko has proven to be a challenge for me. Once I got a chance to buy Warthog, I grabbed couple of bottles with me.

What about the beer?
Colour is clear golden orange with thick white head. Aroma has strong, overwhelming scent of lemon and grapefruit. Taste attacks with dry and very hoppy bitter in the first bite. Notes of grapefruit and orange appear. Palate is bitter and piny, aftertaste adds heavy dry elements to these. When the beer warms up a little bit, grapefruit and lemon step forth in the taste.

Strong hops, lots of pine and dry bitterness and scent & taste of citrus fruits turn Warthog into a very beasty India Pale Ale. The bottle label promises US West Coast style, and the brew gets at least very near to the target.

Ölbeat

Since the brew has got its name from a war aircraft, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, there weren't many appropriate song choices available. Even though "Warthog" is not an air combat fighter, we'll forget the tiny mistake in details while listening to this:

Iron Maiden: Aces High (YouTube)

From the 1984 album, Powerslave, the song was written by Steve Harris, the band's bassist and primary songwriter. Instrumentally the song is pure traditional "Maiden metal" with fast tempo, solid bass & drum patterns, guitar riffs and vocalist Bruce Dickinson hitting some sick high notes. Lyrics are narrated from the viewpoint of British Spitfire pilot, who fights against German ME-109's in World War II. The fate of the pilot is left unclear, since the song ends with the pilot heading straight for the enemy and pressing down his guns. Warthog IPA can be compared to the skillful pilot of the song, but whether it's enough to keep the brewery in the air remains open. "Waiting for more brews, guys", that means.