Bottle from Pivoteka Zagreb. Poured a misty darker golden body, with a solid white head with medium retention. The initial fruity hoppy blast in the aroma gives way to a more herbal, but still slightly creamy and berryish hoppy and dusty note. Fine herbal hoppy taste, an easy drinker, with a vague dry honeyish touch. Lacks the sweetbread note Barba has as its best, but the hoppiness is fine, sweetish malty notes back predominantly herbal and then somewhat citric and bitter hoppy notes. Seems more bitter than the 45 IBUs it claims. Have to say, I liked Chinook better - but it was fresh on tap when I’ve rated it and bottled Cascade is apparently better than bottled Chinook now (makes sense, as it’s fresher). Smooth body, but basically a little on the flat side. Soo, well, a nice addition to the series, but waiting for some more exciting hops (look at me, saying Cascade isn’t... the kids these days). Well, hope I get to try the version on tap too, can’t give this version more than 3.4.

Botled 500ml. -from Vrutak Zagreb. Golden coloured, medium sized white head, mild fruity hoppy nose. Moderate malty, slightly biscuity, touch of caramel, light crude hops and touch of oranges with rather bitter finish. Pleasant but no major difference in comparison with Chinook (except hops of course LOL).

On tap at Hop In Zagreb. Orange/golden coloured, medium sized off-white head, pleasant herbalish hoppy nose. Sweet malty, herbal/citric hoppy, mild notes of oranges and pleasant bitter/sweet hoppy finish and aftertaste. Nice one.

On tap at Hop In Craft Bar, Kanal, Zagreb, I think. Hazy golden, small off-white lasting head. Medium hopped, pines and herbs, nice hop profile without a lot of complexity, malty and toasty background. Light at first, becomes moderate bitter. Light to medium body, quite drinkable, medium carbonation, moderate hoppy finish, pleasant retro-nasal hoppiness. No exaggeration, no flaws, nice Chinook profile.

On tap at Craft Room. Pours amber, beige head. Malty, toasted, bitter, dry, some caramel. Too carbonated. Medium bodied.

On tap at Leopold’s, Split, shared with heavy. Poured a hazy golden-amber body. Somewhat musty herbal citric hoppy aroma, vague pine, mixing with the nice sweet dough maltiness that characterizes Barba. The taste is all about the hops, it’s light and lean perhaps in a way, but the soft sweet dough notes are still there, and the herbal/citric hoppiness builds up and up while going through a genuinely pleasant finish into a full hoppy aftertaste, tasty. Yup, a nice upgrade of Barba. This series should rock - especially when they get to some hops I prefer to Chinook. In any case - very good job guys! :)

0.5 l bottle from Pivoteka, Zagreb. Shared with Višnja 666 and Goran. Pours dark amber to brownish color, diminishing small off-white head. Light grassy, light malty, caramel, toasty. Mostly dry, malty background. Creamy texture, medium carbonation, medium body, toasty and roasty finish. Quite good for the style, could have more aroma, but those aromas present are good.

On tap at Hop In Zagreb. Amber coloured, medium sized off-white head/pale beige head, malty nose. Toasted malt, caramel, mild fruity and slightly nutty notes in the finish. Could be better.

Copper colored, clear, medium- beige frothy head. Aroma is of malt, some biscuit, apple, yeasty estery, bit grassy. Taste is medium- sweet malt, some caramel, biscuit, bit green apple, some fruity notes, medium to light bitterness, some yeast, bit bready. Medium- bodied, soft carbonation, bit oily. (on tap, Craft Room, Zagreb)

On tap at Craft Room. Poured a hazy ruby body with a lasting beige thick head. Full aroma, notes of caramel, fruity, slightly dusty. Taste... pleasant dryish taste showcasing the special malts a bit, dryish, vaguely toasty. More akin to an Irish Red than to an ESB maybe. Low hoppiness, almost none in the taste, but the low bitter finish does pile up slightly. Needs more EKG really taste and aroma - wise. Well, it’s their first go at the style, we’ll see how the thing goes. Technically it’s flawless, only not as interesting as I’d hoped. The brewers are well aware of all the pros and the cons of this one and we’ll see how they tweak it - can’t blame them if they don’t, there’s bound to be a market for this. Update: More recent batches are more on spot and tastier.