A skip and a hop

We started training for our big family hike this summer, and after the first ten kilometres we somehow managed to end up at Chez Moeder Lambic Fontainas, where Fiona and I tried two of the hoppier guest beers in the late afternoon sun.

The first was Mikkeller Willamette Single Hop IPA. Now, after just saying yesterday that I’ve never had a Mikkeller I didn’t adore, this one was, well, not outstanding. The bitterness you’d expect was there, sure, but the overall impression was creamy rather than crisp. A slight hint of cinnamon kept it interesting for a moment, and it did develop in the glass a bit. Still, this beer is too syrupy and sweet. It’s somehow comforting to know that not even Mikkeller gets it perfect 100 per cent of the time.

The second was Saison Dupont Dryhopping, which unquestioningly outshone the earlier IPA in hoppy loveliness: crisper, sharper, with strong lemony bolts shooting through it. There was something of a boiled sweet about it, too, and in this case, that’s a compliment. (It usually isn’t.) Altogether, it was excellent. Normal Saison Dupont is a very good beer, so this one wasn’t much of a surprise, really.