Brutal Bitter
Brewery: Legenda Sörfőzde
Type: IPA
Alcohol: 8.2%
Country: Hungary
This is actually the first Hungarian craft beer I had when I arrived in the country. The city I am working in has a cool craft beer bar serving up the countries up and coming craft brewers in a retro atmosphere. Of course being one of the few pronounceable beers immediately drew me to it. Also as a hop head I wanted to see what Hungarian craft considered brutal, when it came to hop bitterness. It was an amazingly hot night and this beer really hit the spot. So much so that i decided to buy a bottle and bring it home to do a proper review. Truly OCD beer nerds will have to forgive my lack of proper glassware.
Pours a very hazy light orange color. Thin but decent sized head, I don't blame the beer as much as my lack of proper glassware. Smell is of malt, little bit of musty piney hops. Touch of solvent alcohol as it warms. It really reminds me of one of the first homebrewed IPAs I made. This was before I grasped the importance of late addition aroma hops and dry hopping on the nose of a beer. I think that might be the problem here as well. The taste is a nice flowery pine hoppiness, little bit of soapiness though. I have come to expect this from cascade and amarillo, two of the hops in this beer. The malt is very much in the backseat here. Has a nice bitterness, not brutal as the name suggests but right around perfect for this type of IPA. Mouthfeel is medium with perhaps a hair too much carbonation. At 8.2% ABV I would say this is bordering on Imperial IPA territory. The alcohol tends to come out especially as the beers warms. Now it may sound like I am pointing out a lot of flaws in this beer. But actually I like it. I was actually shocked when taking my first drink of because it reminded me so much of one of my own brews. It is a beer I have actually gotten compliments on. Which is exactly what I am giving to this beer. I think it is a nice accomplishment for such a young brewery to produce a beer like this, especially in a very very underground scene like Hungary, where wine and mass produced lagers rule everything. I have had far worse beers from established breweries in countries with much bigger beer culture. I look forward to trying the other offerings from these legends.
