Double IPA (or ’imperial’ as they put it on the label), apparently a collab. Egg-white, very irregular, moussy head leaving ’papery’ lacing and slowly thinning in the middle, but clinging tightly to the edge; immediately cloudy, lightly peach blonde robe with salmon pink tinge and columns of fizz piercing through the mist. Aroma of withering lemongrass, green dill (is there Sorachi Ace in this one?), mango flesh, buttermilk or even goat cheese, pink grapefruit, lime, sourdough, light caramel, unripe banana, lemon slices served warm on a piece of fried cod, freshly cut tarragon, armpit sweat, honey, starfruit, chalk. Fruity onset, lively but clean, impressions of green banana, ripe mango and yellow kiwi, sweetish but subduedly so with an equally subdued sourishness of unripe pear and a much stronger soapiness of starfruit following, medium carbonated (just about right for this style), supple and lightly oily, bit soapy and lovely creamy mouthfeel. Soft, rounded, pleasantly biscuity malt sweet backbone elegantly supporting the tropical fruit notes as well as a growing hoppiness, evolving into a very aromatic finish, in which mango, bittersweet grapefruit, starfruit, tarragon and dill rise up retronasally, with equal emphasis on the green herbs as on the tropical fruits - the latter thus becoming a bit more restrained than is often the case in this type of beers. Meanwhile the back of the mouth gets a bitter treatment, but in a mild and gentle way; grapefruit and tonic water notes mingle with ongoing exotic fruitiness, malt sweetness and eventually a warming, white rum-like alcohol effect accentuating the malt sweetness and heating up the throat after swallowing, but in such a way that it blends perfectly with the hop bitterness; utterly juicy, mouthwatering finish. This is beautiful, more ’pale green herbal’ than usual, with the fresh tarragon and dill effects - in combination with the lime flavour - constantly reminding me of fried white fish, with which I suspect this would match stunningly. Cloudy, soft and more emphasis on aroma than on pure hop bitterness: clearly NEIPA-inspired, and if I had to take an educated guess, I’d say Heady Topper was the source of inspiration here. In comparison with that legend, this is not that far behind, honestly, though perhaps lacking a bit in the extremely lush tropical fruit and dito flower sweetness a fresh Heady offers. Still a great achievement in this hip style and one I would recommend to anyone with a passion for great beer. Pleasantly surprised, these new Swedish breweries truly are miracle workers and this IPA convinces me that I should begin to follow Stigbergets more closely than I have so far.

Bottle, 8% ABV, BB 07.2017 (from Beergium). Pours slightly hazy golden with whiteish head. The head stays. Aroma is very frutiy, tropical fruits, citrus, mango, passion fruit. Flavor is sweet, fruity, citrus, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, some bitterness. Finish is sweet and bitter with some alcohol warmth. Very good balance, very juicy. Overall: bit sweet maybe, but otherwise this is my kind of juicy IPA. Great.