'American IPA' brewed on the isle of Gotland in Sweden, generously donated by my former colleague Jarno, who visited the north of the country a few months ago and found it there. The crown cap depicts a black-and-red-bug, an attractively coloured insect present in not just Gotland but large parts of Europe, while the beer's name refers to a hill on Gotland where once the gallows stood. Too bad - and a bit atypical for IPA in 2026 - the hop varieties are not mentioned anywhere on the label, but an internet search revealed that Chinook is used here as the bittering hop and Cascade and Centennial as the aroma hops - all C-hops here, in fact three of the most classic New World varieties thinkable, and it is good to see this old combo again after having encountered few other varieties in APAs and IPAs during my early beer reviewing years, but having seen them overshadowed by so many others afterwards. Thick, dense, snow white, irregularly and sparsely lacing, medium sized head resting quite stable on an initially crystal clear (filtered!) orange blonde robe with persimmon glow and tiny, darker dots of dead yeast floating around, condensing to a general 'mist' when the sediment is added. Aroma of orange in a somewhat 'candied' kind of way, ripe persimmon, some strawberry, even strawberry guava drink (oddly so), Jaffa cakes, touch of honey biscuit, a vague touch of rich tomato soup somewhere, watermelon, dry old cereals, pear, pink grapefruit hint. Quite colourful onset in the mouth, fruity in a cleanish kind of way but feeling natural, again hints of sweet strawberry and watermelon, guava, mingling with an apple-ish note; some of this sweetness lingers in a more honeyish way over a well-carbonated (at first even slightly numbing), smooth, full body. Biscuity maltiness in a well-measured 'slender' way support growing hoppiness, which becomes more resinous as it grows, gaining strenght and confidence, while pushing up retronasal aromas of pink grapefruit, orange blossom and acacia honey - though that old-fashioned American West Coast 'bite' and pepperiness remains curiously absent. Clean, sleek, oldskool IPA - this is the kind of IPA I learned to drink when I started venturing in artisanal beer and began to take notes of it, and I recall how shocking it was to an unprepared Belgian palate. Nowadays, thousands of IPAs later of all subtypes that have been launched in all those years, I guess this relatively unpretentious Swedish IPA does not surprise, but if you lived through the earlier days of New World hops making their entrance in Europe like me, you will be more likely to appreciate this 'gallows beer'. West Coast style for sure, delivered in a very solid way: I prefer this one over the umpteenth sweet-tropical-fruit-juice hazy IPA and I mean that seriously (even though many great beers have come forth from those newer generation IPAs as well, of course). Notably sweet in the nose, but powerfully bitter in the mouth without losing contact with the sweetness of the malts, clean, efficient and technically well-executed: there is nothing to dislike about this IPA. It feels almost like a time capsule even, as if the 'hazy revolution' within IPA never happened... Have an extra point for making me feel all nostalgic about that whole IPA thing's history which, let's be honest, incited the whole craft beer movement to begin with, thereby eventually changing the entire beer world. Big cheers to that, Jarno!

(Bottle) Hazy dark amber colour with brief, foamy, off-white head. Fruity nose with notes of dried apricots, orange peel and resin. Fruity, malty taste with dried apricots, orange peel, caramel and a balanced resiny/citric bitterness in the finish. Medium body, with a slight sweetness. Well balanced, but hardly the most interesting IPA I've tried. Quite nice.

Can 33 cl. Pours a clear amber with a lacing, off-white head. Aroma of very little. Medium body, some sweet caramel and biscuit and a little hint of aromatic hops. Easy drinking. 220226

Bottle 33 cl. Pours an opaque black with a creamy and lacing, beige head. Faint chocolate aroma. Rich, sweet molasses and pumpernickel. Sweet licorice perhaps, but very little bitterness. Almost a chokomousse beer. Baltic Porter? 280126

Bottle web SB 2025-12-24 Göteborg
AR: roasted malt, salty licorice
AP: dark brown, wee beige lid
F: roasted malt, salty licorice

AIH205. Golden colour, small white head. Aroma is mango, some other fruitiness with mild sweet bready and grainy tones. Flavour is mango, some herbal, floral and mild ripe fruity tones. Mango aftertaste.

Golden colour, small white head. Malty aroma with faint grainy notes. Light-bodied. Fizzy carbo. Sweetish malty, some grainy notes, light hoppyness. Clean and easy.