North East Beer Review

A brew which really intrigued me as I have never had an Ultra Hopped Ale before. Parabellum is the Ultra Hopped Ale which by name is Ultra Hopped as it contains six types of hops. Lolev Beer is the brewer and it’s a new one to me alongside its collaborator Off Script Brewing. So how did this massively hopped ale fare? To find out I will cover the history of this beer and brewery, the pour, the taste and aroma and finally my verdict.

From humble beginnings

Lolev Beer is an American craft brewery based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The name Lolev is derived from “lower level” which is a nod the humble beginnings the brewery and the name the founders mother gave to the basement, where the homebrewing took place. From starting in a “lower level”, Lolev quickly became one of the hottest breweries on the block especially with hazy IPA fans. The founders are brothers Ted and Scott Slesinski and friends Derek and Jeff Gonano.

Lolev’s philosophy is have meticulous attention to detail, use high quality ingredients and continuously improving recipes. Gaining a reputation for its heavily hopped brews, it has showcased modern hop products such as Incognito, HyperBoost and SubZero Hop Kief alongside traditional pellet hops. Today, Lolev operate a brewery and taproom in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville district. The brewery itself is an old Ford dealership from 1912. Despite being founded in 2022, it has a reputation for some of the best rated hazy IPAs in the country.

Off Script Brewing was founded in Thornton, Colorado and similarly to Lolev, was a homebrewing project which became a commercial success. Ryan, the founder, specialises in exclusively New-England Style Double and Triple IPAs with a focus on hop saturation. Powered by a love of pop culture, each brew a playful approach whilst having an equally uncompromising brewing ethos. Utilising hops such as Riwaka, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Nectaron and Citra in multiple formats including Cryo, HyperBoost and SubZero Hop Kief. Despite its small size, they have many great collaborations under their belts with the likes of Lolev, Brasserie du Bas-Canada, Moksa Brewing and Phantom Brewing. Their brewing approach and collaborations have made them an exciting brewery to watch.

Lolev Beer Parabellum is an Ultra Hopped Ale. Following the trend of brewers teaming up and sharing their techniques and expertise, this is a collaboration brew between Lolev and Off Script. The beer is designed to push modern hop expression to the limit while maintaining the soft, pillowy mouthfeel that has become synonymous with elite New England-style Double IPAs. Carrying an ABV of 9.3%, it is hopped with Freestyle Riwaka, Citra, Moteuka, Citra Incognito, Moteuka Hyperboost and Motueka SubZero Hop Kief. This beer tries to give the drinker an extremely hop forward experience with saturated tropical fruits flavours dominating alongside an explosive aroma. Since its release this has been incredibly popular even scoring a 4.4/5 on Untappd which is an incredible rating.

A thick and murky pour

Parabellum pours a murky bright golden to orange colour which is incredibly opaque as you would expect from a high quality, high ABV Hazy IPA. A lively white foamy head forms which lingers throughout the drinking experience, leaving an impressive lacing down the glass. Despite being completely opaque, the light still made this beer somewhat glow. The carbonation was moderate and you could just about see fine bubbles climbing up the glass. Overall, this looks like a hop bomb which almost promises intense flavours.

An explosive hop saturated experience

Aroma

Parabellum explodes from the can with an intense cloud of tropical fruits such as mango, pineapple, juicy passion fruit and a touch of peach. This is closely followed by vibrant citrus notes of lime zests, orange and a sprinkling of grapefruit. A dank nature is detected alongside a honey-biscuit like malt base to give this a balancing sweetness. Overall, the aroma has an impressive level of depth which doesn’t compromise the initial explosive hop profile.

Taste

From the first sip, the first thing I noticed was the incredibly smooth and soft mouthfeel. Quite quickly after this was an absolute abundance of tropical fruit flavours such as mango, pineapple, peach and a touch of juicy passionfruit. The dominant tropical fruits were matched by the citrus notes of lime, orange and grapefruit. The New Zealand hops offer a resinous edge alongside a pronounced dank note. The oaty and smooth maltbase offers a soft and pillowy sweetness. Although, there is a noticeable bitterness, this more related to the hop saturation as opposite to alcohol bitterness from the 9.3% ABV. The finish is long, juicy and saturated with lingering tropical fruit, citrus zest and soft hop resin, inviting another sip almost immediately. Overall, this was an absolute hop masterclass and perfectly illustrates the expertise of each brewer. The editions of the different types of hop editions such as hop kief give this a stand out flavour. I absolutely loved this pour.

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Time for my verdict

As introduction to both breweries I must say this might be up there with the best. Hats off to both of them for providing a hop masterclass in a can. I understand the reputation that both brewers are gaining and I will honestly keep an eye out for more from both. I really like the fact that this was quite balanced even though it was extremely hop saturated and never did I think this is too much. I would even go as far to say that this was somewhat easy drinking despite what my liver might say. All in all, the hop forward tropical nature allows me to give this brew a tremendous 4.75 out of 5. Cheers

Where did I purchase Parabellum?

I bought this QIPA from Indie Beer based in London. Friendly service and fast delivery. Cheers guys.

Thanks for reading my review. If you enjoyed this review I would highly recommend my review of this Ārpus x Badlands Brewing QIPA.