France has been blossoming with new craft breweries in every one of its 'départements' in recent years, with this one situated in Lorraine, presenting this fruit DIPA for the tenth birthday of a local beer shop. Mousy, foamy, audibly crackling, yellowish egg-white, large-bubbled head needing some forcing to form and dissipating gradually into some thin remnants around the edge, over a completely cloudy, pale orange-tinged apricot blonde (sic) beer, looking like freshly squeezed orange juice. Dank and utterly fruity nose of granadilla, mango, indeed ripe apricot and even a vague whiff of apricot jam, tangerine juice, guava, diesel, herb cheese spread, gin, Screwdriver, hints of ripe pear, pecorino, honey, Betterfood, oil aromatized with kaffir lime leaves. Extremely juicy and fruity onset, not just sweet ripe apricot but a lot of passionfruit, guava and fresh orange juice as well, prickly carb but refined and not interfering too much with this sweet, tropical juiciness; full, bit creamy, eventually slightly powdery body, vaguely biscuit- and cake dough-like malts with a honeyish sweet edge (the sweetness from the apricots, perhaps), leading to a finish that remains just as juicy as the onset, very sultry and tropical with a dank diesel- and marijuana-like touch and even a retronasal hint of old spicy Parmezan cheese, but mostly dominated by sweet tropical fruits, highlighted by a glow of warming, gin-like alcohol. Tangy, even spicy effects as well, a hint of citrus pith, soapiness, apricot sourness and even a lingering pepperiness, with the hops acting out a mildly bitter feature - but the tropical juice effect gloriously prevails. Amplified fruit IPA of the hazy New England kind, quite extreme in its juiciness and 'tropicalness', as if drinking a blend of fruit juices spiked with gin or wodka - but fortunately there is a strong citric, fruit-acidic streak to it, that keeps things refreshing and spicy and prevents it from become too sweet. This aspect is of fundamental importance here to me - it makes all the difference between plainly tiring tropical fruit juice sweetness on the one hand and a great fruit IPA on the other hand. If done like this, a bit over the top but still maintaining balance (even if the sweetness remains strong till the end), I can certainly appreciate a brew like every now and then, 'unbeery' as it may be. Interesting find - inviting to learn more about this Piggy brewery...

330ml bottle. Opaque, darkest brown colour with average, thick, frothy to creamy, moderately lasting and lacing, off-white to beige head. Grassy, spicy, and slightly citrusy fruity, hoppy and roasty, chocolately, dark malty aroma, notes of lime, lemon, lime peel, lemongrass, orange zest, hints of dark chocolate, some coffee. Taste is bitter, grassy and slightly citrusy hoppy, roasty and chocolately dark malty, notes of lemon, lemon peel, some lime, orange zest, dark chocolate, minimally waxy overtones.

0,33 litre Bottle from Vinmonopolet Hamar. Cloudy orange with white head. Malts, hops, pineapple, mango, sour, low bitterness.

Gul noe tåkete med eggegult skum. Lukter ananas, mango og aprikos. Søt, fruktig lett bitter smak. Smaker moden stenfrukt, ananas og noe drueskall. Middels lang.

Pours bit unclear yellow, small, nearly no head. Smell is mildly citrus, notes of pineapple. Taste is a bit bitter, tad citric, grassy, bit hollow. Mild 'green' notes. Decent MF, bit drying, towards tart almost . Medium low carbo.