#107 Yeastie Boys – Digital IPA

Name: Digital IPA
Brewery: Yeastie Boys (contract brewed at Invercargill Brewery)
Style: IPA
ABV: 7%
Source: Regional Wines (Wellington)

You know what’s a lot cooler than Single Source beer?

Open source beer.

OK. So both of those terms are actually pretty meaningless. What I mean is –  Yeastie Boys’ Digital IPA is open source (you know – like Firefox) because the recipe for it is available online and anyone can view it and even make their own if they are very, very clever.

But what’s really cool/nerdy about it is that it’s got one of those QR reader doodackies on  the label, so when you scan it with your iPhone (or Android, for the sake of diplomacy), it takes you straight to the Yeastie Boys website, where you can find said recipe. Neat huh?*

Now, those people who read every single post on this blog (i.e. Mum) will know that I’m a Yeastie Boys fan from way back. And, like a hell of a lot of other people, I’m crazy about IPAs. You’d be right in assuming then, that I was VERY excited about trying this beer.

It poured a beautiful colour, so nice that I’m giving it its own picture:

The aroma was fruity, fruity, fruity. Predominantly of fejoa, passionfruit and citrus I thought – very much a showcase of our lovely NZ hops, which I’m growing more partial to every day.

In the mouth there was a lovely sunburst (I know that’s not a beer term but meh) of bright, tangy fruit, atop a sturdy foundation of caramel malt. There was a little spicyness too – in a Christmas mince pie-ish sort of way. The finish was bitter and lingered, satisfyingly, on the roof of my mouth.

“It’s a happy beer” said Hollie, my flatmate.

“That’s some tasty source code” said I.

We both agreed we needed to buy a lot more.

*Apologies to my grandparents, for whom none of that would have made one iota of sense.