Greene King IPA's Enigma Variations

a review 65million years in the making...ok well not quite that long, but it feels like its taken a geological age to get around to writing up my thoughts on these two new GK beers which were first launched nearly 3 months ago. Part of that seems to be down to a slower than expected distribution of the beer to local pubs, I did spend alot of weekends trawling GK pubs to be faced with a selection of anything but Gold or Reserve on offer (almost like they were clearing the backlog), and Ive yet to see any of the bottled versions hit the local supermarket shelves either. And part of that was in the end deciding it was better to review both beers under more scientific conditions in the same pub after a slightly abortive attempt.

Couple things need to make clear though, before diving straight into the review I actually like GK's standard version IPA as a drink, I know loads of people dont, some very strongly dont, but I firmly believe alot of that is down to the way the beer is cellared and dispensed, Ive had my fair share of IPA duds to know that when its treated less optimally, it can veer from just mildly offensive to downright horrible. But when its properly been looked after its very drinkable, not ground breaking, not going to rip your taste buds out and shove them down your throat, but very definately drinkable.
  

Reserve (5.4%) 

Ok you might have thought it made more sense to review Gold first, but Reserve was the first of the two I actually found on sale anywhere, so its first in the reviews.

Now I wasnt sure what to expect from either of these two beers, Gold or Reserve at first, GK do actually make lots of different beers other than IPA, and I dont mean in terms of just recipes from other breweries theyve acquired. They do some seasonals(Alepril Fool/Bonkers Conkers), some regionals (London Glory) and certainly a range of strong ales (Suffolk Sprinter/Strong Suffolk) to golden (St Edmunds/Alefresco) already, some good, some not so good, and theres always a sneaking suspicion that the recipe for IPA is the starting point for alot of those beers, so why should another two versions be all that different. and Reserve isnt infact a totally brand new beer, its based on GKs Very Special India Pale Ale, a 7.5% bottled beer, which they sold for a while but presumably consumer feedback encouraged them to bring it down to a more manageable 5.4%

So diving straight in I bought a pint and had a sip and was pleasently surprised it didnt taste that bad, it actually tasted not bad at all, sort of like...well this was the confusing bit, it had taste it wasnt a watery nothing of a beer, you could taste it was based on an IPA for sure & there was a rich mellow fruitiness, it was slightly malty and some slightly other things too. There were tantalisingly hints of hops and I could swear there were citrus flavours as well, and you could tell this a was strong rich beer even though it didnt really taste like one.

In some ways I felt I wanted to say this was a complex beer with lots of flavour, but its not, not really, there are lots of flavours going on for sure, and they do complement each other quite well, theres nothing making you think they were just clearing the cupboard of ingredients and wishing they hadnt chucked that jar of stuff that had been sitting on the shelf for years so no-one knew what was in it, but they arent leaping out either, which curiously made it seem a much weaker beer. They are subtle to the point it tastes more like the standard 3.6% IPA session beer, yet you do feel it carrying the alcohol hit of something much stronger, which makes it more like a souped up version of IPA itself...which is arguably what it always set out to be. So as a standalone beer Id say, to be honest there are more beers with flavour, with less of a punch, that most people will enjoy drinking alot more. Given a choice of IPA or IPA reseve on the bar, Id go for the IPA its got 80% at least the same taste and is far more sessionable a drink. That sounds like I didnt like it much, which isnt the case really, it was totally fine as a beer Id not have a problem drinking it again, I think I was just expecting alot more from it. And plonk it along side food though and I think things might be different, you know from the subtleness of the beer flavours, it nots going to overpower the food, and its rich enough to draw and probably enhance flavours out a steak or heavy meat dish. again pretty much as it always set out to be. so whilst its far from being a disappointing beer, I was disappointed it wasnt packed as full as flavour as Id hoped it could be. Still I gave it 3 out of 5 

Gold (4.1%) 

Take 1 - Bury St Edmunds beer festival

so weeks passed and GK Gold IPA didnt look like appearing anywhere soon,though curiously there was now plenty of Reserve to be had instead. but I figured if anywhere was likely to have some,be worth trying and not run out, the Bury St Edmunds beer festival was likely to be the place.

As soon as I arrived, I headed straight for the GK section of the bar and ordered a half, which came straight off cask.

First sip, reaction whoa ok thats not good, right reset, maybe I havent quite got in the right frame of mood for this yet, lets try again,second sip, nope thats not good at all, in fact thats quite well ugh really. Not off, just completely unappetisingly ugh, like the kind of home brewed version of an American IPA a micro brewery might put out, it was just bitter and resinous, like drinking wet cardboard [*], with no redeeming qualities at all. And it wasnt just my reaction, we quickly sought out the comfort of a table and chairs with which to sit and continue our drinking from and joined a group of people staring very supiciously at their half pints of a slightly golden beer, much the same way I was now nursing my own Gold IPA.

"Gold IPA?" I enquired
"Yes, how did you know" they sounded impressed
"Your reaction to it, its what Ive got too" I replied miserably "its not very nice is it"
"No" they responded "its well a bit ugh"

Strangely perhaps given the fact this was looking to be a bit of disaster of a drink, it didnt take long to finish, but this was more due to the realisation the quicker it was dispatched, the quicker I could move on to finding something reasonable to drink at the festival instead, and boy the next drink (most definately not a GK beer) didnt disappoint on that, was like switching from eating some kind of bread substitute, for a just baked out of the oven farmers loaf. Definately only a 1 out of 5.


So I could have left it there, published the reviews, accepted GK Gold was just rubbish and probably never bothered touching a drop of GK Gold IPA again. But it bugged me, for all its faults IPA doesnt intentionally taste ugh, you dont spend 4million pounds on an ad campaign to get people to drink something that tastes ugh, even if Im convinced its not aimed at the cask ale market but the lager/cider drinkers instead, and Ive worked at beer festivals to know that things can and do go wrong, maybe the beer was rushed on it was the last day. It was no good I was going to have try it again to be sure...

[*] Ive since discovered the wet cardboard taste is a sign the beer had probably over oxygenated, so technically was off

 

Take 2 - Dove Street Inn

But more weeks passed and GK Gold was still stubbornly refusing to show up in the local pubs, and Id almost got to the point of giving up waiting,just publish the review and promise an update at some later point.

And then suddenly there it was, even better it was there in the same pub Id tried the Reserve in about 4weeks earlier, and I knew it would be served properly this time, so would be close to as good as it was going to be.

If it tasted rubbish again, it really was going to be a rubbish drink.

So with some hint of trepidation I summoned the courage to order it and I instinctively ordered a pint...damn that could be a mistake, I could have asked for a sample or even a half, but another pint of Ugh!!!

oh well, too late now. Notably this was hand pull drawn though [**], as infact the Reserve had been, the beer festival cask had been straight through a tap. Right nothing more for it, lets try some.

Blessed relief, it wasnt a pint of ugh this time, actually nothing like the ugh at all, this was actually tasting pretty good, not so much of the GK IPAness to this one, obviously really its golden ale, but its got some nice tropical fruitiness mango juice drink quality going on with it,bit of hops, its actually a jolly pleasant drink.

Again typically for GK these arent stand out chestburster shocking flavours, but they are flavours and they are pretty good. So good before I realised it the whole pint was gone, nothing for it better have another one, which certainly isnt what Id expected to happen.

This was a really nice drinkable beer, maybe the break in the relentless rain and the sudden appearance of the sun helped, but this was a beer I felt I could sit in a beer garden in the summer sun a heat and happily drink all day watching the world go by, a world away from the previous sample Id had.

Although no question this is a beer I could drink alot of, IPA or IPA Gold on the bar, Id choose IPA Gold

By the time Id returned for my 3rd and 4th pints a few days later with friends to share the exciting new beer Id discovered, interestingly the response from a devout cider drinker who normally hates cask ale, and a female perspective at that, was the Gold was something they could definately drink even if they did liken it to watered down lager,was this really began to feel like it could be pushing 4 out of 5 territory. Had GK stumbled upon something that pleased cask ale drinkers (even the ones who dont like IPA), but also bridged the mythical divide between cider/lager drinkers and tapped into the female non ale drinking market as well.

But I pulled back, it was good, its got alot going for it, and might be more than imagined it was, but I had to remember there are lots of good golden ales and like with the Reserve before it, actually alot of them pack plentifully far more taste and only the great ones are really worth a 4, so I ultimately I settled instead on a 3.5 out of 5

[**]Speaking to thems that know more about keeping beer than me, it was suggested both these beers need to be hand pulled to get the best out of them, than a flatter dispense method would.

Conclusion

Well overall Id have to say GKs new additions are pretty reasonable, both quite drinkable (which wasnt a given) even if I was slightly disappointed in the Reserve, its not because it tastes in anyway bad, though the Gold would definately be my pick of the two, assuming it wasnt another pint of ugh.

And that maybe the Golds undoing, the Reserve I think is slightly more robust given its higher alcohol content,but as is often the case with GK beers, for all its seeming ability to be all things to all people  cellaring and managing the pub & beer properly is absolutely critical to delivering these pints at the level they deserve to be drunk at, and not enough pubs in the GK estate do that as I sampled another fine vintage sarsons version of IPA (so bad I just left it) & a Libertine which had all the hallmarks of another pint of ugh at the weekend.

If I do ever find the bottles on sale, I might update the review to take account of them.