Thursday, August 5, 2010

Review: Pretty Things Fluffy White Rabbits

The gypsy brewery Pretty Things continues to put out lovely beers with lovelier labels. Gypsies like to wander which might explain why PT beers are in such rich supply out here on Vancouver Island. If they all made beer like this I'd make my backyard available as a caravan site.

"Fluffy White Rabbits" is a hoppy tripel. Taking established styles and giving them the North American hop treatment is big at the moment. I scowl at trends but I'm yet to drink an unusually-hoppy beer that hasn't been good.

FWR pours a typical golden-orange colour. The head's not too fluffy. It quickly shears down to a thin but resilient crewcut.

The smell is a bit reserved, with only a mild yeasty aroma and little hop pungency.  I get mown grass, pear, and pencil shavings. The first hit of flavour is very satisfying, with loads of peppery yeast, floral hops, and crackling spice. It's a drier tripel, which I guess is to embrace the hop bitterness rather than counteract with a richer body. I really appreciate the play of the floral hops with the chili profile in the yeast.

The aftertaste doesn't sit entirely well with me. Whether it's hops in the boil or some other source of bitterness, I get a minerally jasmine-like flavour that lingers unflatteringly. At 8.5% it should be a slow drinker, but my lust for the glass-to-lips zing — definitely the strongest aspect of this beer — means I've practically chugged it.

With hoppier tripels in short supply, you should probably get one of these if you can. It's a good indicator of the impact this style has to offer and a good beer in its own right, but it doesn't quite scale the peaks some of the other PT beers have.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Dan,

    Great post. Fluffy White Rabbit to me is like an over-hopped Golden Monkey. It's one of those beers that really don't show it's strength, which gets dangerous at 8.5%.

    I'm loving the concept of Gypsy breweries. Wrote up an article about it in regards to Mikkeller here (http://www.pangaeabeerandfood.com/2010/05/hops-booze-and-gypsy-brews-mikkeller.html).

    Keep up the good work.

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  2. I was looking forward to GCBF in sept before but even more so now that I know we can get Pretty things out there, I haven't tried any of their stuff yet. thanks for theis post dan!

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