Name: Population III
Brewers: Stigbergets Bryggeri (Sweden), Other Half Brewing (United States)
Style: Specialty IPA: New England IPA
ABV: 7%
Review Year: 2019
Göteborg meets New York for this hazy beer collab, Population III.
Stigbergets Bryggeri is a Swedish outfit that made its breakthrough in 2016 with its GBG Beer Week IPA. For this collaboration, the Swedes join forces with the kings of hazy beers in the kingdom of New York, Other Half.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Specialty IPA: New England IPA (21B) in the context of the provisional guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) for the said beer style. The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website.
TASTING NOTES
Population III pours a hazy orange-yellow color. We picked up notes of peach, overripe oranges, and pomelos on the nose. There is also a wax-like aroma which we think is from the oats used in brewing. Meanwhile, the palate is medium-bodied with a similar profile with the aroma. Population III then releases flavors akin to spicy and grassy hops after the sip.
THE VERDICT
This Göteborg-New York collaboration is truly a proper one since it showcases the salient characteristics of what a fragrant and flavorful NEIPA should be whether you are in Europe or in the East Coast. For now, we can only dream of what an imperial version of Population III would be like.
