Ölbeat 218: Hopping Brewsters Flight Cadet APA

Brewery: Hopping Brewsters 
Country: Finland
Style: American Pale Ale
Abv: 5,3 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy yellow with a large white head. Aroma has grapefruit, orange and lemon. Taste begins with citrus-fruity freshness. Slightly bitter grapefruit and mild pine take over. Towards the end sweet orange and bitter pine get strongest. Aftertaste has herbal piny bitterness and malty dryness.

Refreshing American Pale Ale. Citrus-flavoured hops lead the way here. Develops better on the way. Good, not great.

Ölbeat

The brew is - both by its name and by its core - learning to fly, so an American country rock track is the obvious choice. This is not my favourite of Tom Petty songs, but pretty nice anyway, so it fits the frame.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Learning to Fly (YouTube)

From the 1991 album Into the Great Wide Open, the song was written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

Ölbeat 011: Hopping Brewsters Warthog IPA

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