Hinterland India Pale Ale, Wiper and True

Wiper and True India Pale Ale 7.3%

Wiper and True, founded in 2012 in Bristol, has built a Barrel Store close to the brewery. The store enables the brewery to produce oak-aged beers and this summer it launched two beers made by mixed fermentation. Wort – the sugary extract produced during the mashing stage – is produced in the brewery then transferred to the Barrel Store where fermentation takes place in oak, using Brettanomyces and Cerberus yeast cultures – Cerberus is a strain widely used, in the U.S. in particular, to make sour beers, a modern interpretation of Belgian Lambic. Brettanomyces – Brett for short – means British fungus and was first analysed in the 18^th century when it was discovered in large oak vats that stored Porter. Brett burrows deep into wood and cannot be removed by washing or sterilising casks. It’s best-known today as one of the wild yeasts used to ferment Lambic beers.

The two Wiper and True beers are Narrow Sea, based on the Belgian Saison style, and Hinterland, a 7.3 per cent IPA brewed with Citra, Ekuanot, Loral and Simcoe hops. Could this be akin to the IPAs sent to the Raj in India in the Victorian period? We know that the Burton brewers, including Bass, would store oak casks of IPA for a year before they left on the long sea journeys to India. During that period, the beers would have picked up a lactic tang from Brett lodged in the casks.

Hinterland has an aroma reminiscent of that old confectionery known as orange and lemon slices, with an acidic note from the Brett and spicy hops. The palate is tart, tangy, fruity and acidic, with more tart fruit, spicy hops and an acidic tang in the finish.

We will never know for certain if this is something like the IPAs consumed by Lord Curzon and his high-born chums in India but it’s without doubt a delicious and memorable beer. 

It’s available in a mixed pack of three cans each of Hinterland, Narrow Sea, Sundance IPA and Kaleidoscope Pale Ale. £41.50 per pack.

 https://wiperandtrue.com/order-beer-online/mixed-fermentation-mixed-case-hinterland-narrow-sea-kaleidoscope-and-sundance