North East Beer Review

A gift sent to me by my sister all the way from Kilkeel, Northern Ireland. I was recommended to try this famous Northern Irish brewery with brews such as Whitewater Brewing Co HoppelHammer, Maggie’s Leap and their Belfast Lager. For today’s review I am covering HoppelHammer which is a triple-hopped IPA. So what did I think? During the course of this review I will be covering the history of this beer and brewery, the pour, the taste and aroma and finally my verdict. Cheers.

Born in the Mourne Mountains

Today’s review takes us across the Irish Sea to County Down and Whitewater Brewing Co, a brewery based in Castlewellan in the Mourne Mountains. Whitewater was founded in 1996 by Bernard and Kerry Sloan on their fifth-generation family farm. What started out with a small 800-litre brewing system has grown considerably over the years, with Whitewater now brewing on a 6,500-litre system and producing a range of beers from traditional Irish styles to hop-forward IPAs.

One of those beers is Hoppelhammer, a 6% ABV triple-hopped IPA. The beer uses American hops from the Pacific Northwest, with Chinook and Cluster hops bringing plenty of fruity character alongside woody notes and a robust, resinous bitterness. It’s certainly a beer that doesn’t hold back when it comes to the hops. Hoppelhammer has been around for a number of years and has developed a bit of a reputation among Irish beer drinkers. It was originally brewed around the early 2010s and was even crowned Champion Beer at the Belfast Beer Festival after making its debut there. Since then, it has remained one of Whitewater’s better-known hop-forward beers. With Whitewater’s roots firmly planted in the Mourne Mountains and Hoppelhammer taking inspiration from the hop-heavy American IPA style.

A more traditional IPA pour

Hoppelhammer pours a deep amber to copper colour with a slight haze to it. There’s a decent off-white head that builds as it’s poured, with the foam sticking around nicely and leaving some lacing down the glass. It’s a darker-looking IPA than some of the modern hazy IPAs you see today, giving it a more traditional appearance.

The taste and aroma

Aroma

When it comes to aromatics, citrus and tropical fruits dominate which complements the extremely piney and resinous flavours. Beneath this, there is a caramel like sweetness which helps bind the different aromas together. Overall, a typical traditional IPA which unlocks a multitude of different notes.

Taste

The first sip brings a good hit of bitterness, with citrus and fruity hop flavours coming through before the pine and resin notes start to build. A solid malt backbone with notes of toffee helps balance out the resinous and bitter nature. The finish is dry with a lingering citrus bitterness. The mouthfeel was soft and smooth. Overall, a well balanced pour which is still somewhat sessionable despite its 6% ABV.

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Time for my verdict

Overall, this is a brew which was tasty and extremely resinous. I personally enjoyed this pour and found it to be quite easy drinking. I feel this comes as the style of craft beer but tastes remarkably like real ale which may be a shock to some. I feel the main improvement I would make is to perhaps focus more on the fruity nature as the pine overpowered it somewhat. Despite this, I will rate this a 3.75/5. Cheers.

Where did I purchase this beer?

I was gifted these by my sister all the way from Northern Ireland so a big thanks is due. A big thanks to her partners family for helping ship them over too.

Thank you very much for reading this review. If you enjoyed this review, you will love my review of Bullhouse Rolling Papers.