Sierra Nevada, Southern Hemisphere Harvest

I drank this ages ago and can't for the life of me remember how it tasted (the pictures have been sat on my hard rive since early August). I guessing it was the standard Sierra Nevada thing: 'nice enough'. As with the Northern Hemisphere version of this drink, there will inevitably be freshness issues.

Magic Rock Brewing Co, Cannonball

Alot has been said about the calibre of this IPA from Huddersfield stars Magic Rock, and by people more fully versed in beer related wordery than myself. (This post by Matt Curtis is pretty good.) I agree with pretty much all of what's been said. Sweet tinge from the caramel malts is the perfect foil to the hop wallop in this: there's perfect balance all the way through. Negatives: in short supply and relatively expensive. Not being bottle conditioned is a plus though (for me). Getting a bit tired of the unavoidable yeastiness (however small) in my IPAs at the moment.

Weird Beard Co, Five O'Clock Shadow

A 1967 Shelbey Mustang imported into West London. This WCIPA from the chaps at Weird Beard pours a dark copper and the dominant flavour is a thick and dank hop resin, like some overly ripe, sticky, brutal skunk hybrid delivered with a West Coast swagger. The strength of this drink is revealed when sucked against the gums, but otherwise, really quite refreshing for it's abv. My wife had quite a bit of this!

Brewdog, Jackhammer

Noteless once again for this West Coast IPA from Brewdog. I suppose you can know what to expect from this drink: full body encapsulating the marriage of pine + tropical fruit flavours (I've always found that WCIPAs tend to err more towards the hoppy, resiny side of the things, as opposed to, say, the fruitier Kernels or Partizans), not too fizzy mouthfeel and enduring bitter aftertaste. Simon over at CAMRGB said in a post that his version was bottle conditioned - I've had 2 of these now, my first had some very minute 'bits' in, the second was clear. (This post talks a bit about their brewing process which might explain some of the stuff floating in the bottle?)

Red Willow Brewery, Ageless

My tasting notes say that this Ageless from Red Willow is similar to a West Coast IPA. I certainly remember that whilst it's similar in abv to the Remorseless, it's a very different style of IPA altogether. Part of the Red Willow core range, this IPA poured orange, there was a lovely creamy texture to this beer (perhaps due to a slightly languorous carbonation?) and good lacing down the inside of the glass. A very bitter drink, the tropics were there mildly - the accompanying oily and resiny hop character in ascendancy. No notes for what my food was that evening. There is absolutely no doubt I'll get this again - a damn good IPA from one of the UK's premier breweries.