Northern Monk vs Mark Newton: Patrons Project 20.03 West Coast Routes IPA (440ml)

Mark Newton’s series West Coast routes is back – the perfect antidote to the beloved-but-currentlydominant NEIPA trend – combining the style that got many of us into craft beer in the first place, with Mark’s lush photography from the area that birthed them. We paired pale barley malt with light Munich & pale crystal to accentuate the malt character, enhancing kettle hop notes while tempering the biscuit character, and weighing in at 7% ABV to hit the sweet-spot of complex body without getting into the ABV armsrace. The finished character is beautiful and golden, perfect for supping on a sunny day on San Francisco bay (or equally, a rainy one on Blackpool beach). Hopped from the moment the wort reaches the boil with Centennial, Amarillo and Simcoe – 3 West Coast stalwarts found in almost any classic IPA worth its resin – and the more contemporary Strata, for plenty of passionfruit and dankness cohesive with the classic West Coast character. Fermenting with a clean West Coast yeast gives a crisp finish to the beer and lets those nostalgic piney, resinous, pithy grapefruit flavours that we’ve come to expect from the style shine through.