Name: Ube Milkshake IPA 2.0
Brewer: HideOut Craft Brewery (Philippines)
Style: Alternative Sugar Beer (Base Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer)
ABV: 7.0%
Review Year: 2020
HideOut Craft Brewery head brewer, Tatz Ang revamps his wildcard beer, the Ube Milkshake IPA. This sophomore batch is an improvement in all aspects resulting in a more appealing and palatable “experimental” beer brewed with ube or purple yam, lactose, and coconut.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as an Alternative Sugar Beer (31B) with the Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer (30A) as the base style in the context of the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).
Recommended Reading: WTF is a Milkshake IPA? (Vinepair, 2018)
TASTING NOTES
This second version of Ube Milkshake will be benchmarked with its predecessor released a month or two ago. The reboot features a much more appealing vibrant purple color with a white-purple head. Opaque. The nose opens up with assertive coconut, candied coconuts, and purple yam on the nose. It is as if you are sniffing liquid ube kalamay, a Filipino delicacy. These are then accentuated by some leafy pandan-like aromas.
Ube Milkshake 2.0 is medium-light bodied, noticeably lighter than the first one, and is matched with a moderately high carbonation level. The purple yam flavors are noted but are supported by an impression of creamy coconuts. Faint oak-like tones, as in the first one, are present, but not as evident. The hop character seems to manifest as generally neutral and exists sufficiently to remind its drinkers that this is still an IPA at the very core. The malt profile reveals complementing toasty flavors. The sweetness from the lactose is tempered this time, just enough to complement and not overpower the other flavors. Some tartness is present but is well-integrated as with the alcohol. The aftertaste slightly lingers with some oak-like notes and tartness.
THE VERDICT
Ube Milkshake 2.0 by HideOut Craft Brewery is an improvement in all aspects from the appearance to the overall flavor balance. The coconut addition is evident and really complements the purple yam characters in this beer. While there are still no defined benchmarks as to how an Ube Milkshake IPA should look, smell, or taste like, this particular batch is more palatable and enjoyable than the first one.
Read More: HideOut Craft Brewery “Ube” Milkshake IPA
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