Pirate Invasion

Can a can be good?
My latest discovery of an exceptional beer came in a can by Pirate Life Brewing. This double IPA or IIPA ('Imperial IPA' as it is branded, review here) is rich, full flavour, very hoppy, decidedly bitter and packs a punch with 8.8% alcohol content. It's one of the better beers I've tasted and is the best I've ever tasted coming out of a can by a long way! I have always associated cans with weak, cheap beer but, happily, times are changing.

Quality Concerns
This pirate discovery was a long way away from anywhere that I thought may be able to present decent quality for something as delicate as a craft beer. Quality is always a concern when you're a long way away from a brewery.  However, this manufacturer has done two things right: they've cranked the alcohol content up to about as high as you want a beer to ever go and they've put it in a can. Despite the dubious aesthetics of a tube of metal, cans are actually quite good at maintaining quality. It keeps the beer dark and if sealed with an inert atmosphere (e.g. Nitrogen rather than ambient air) it can slow down any potential oxidation (which makes beer taste stale, like wet cardboard). The high alcohol content also helps preserve the beer and maintain longer lasting flavour stability.

Packaging information
The next delightful discovery was the detail on the packaging, and specifically the little diagrams around the neck of the can describing how this beer was made. They included the type of hops they have used, and this information is becoming increasingly important to me when selecting a beer to drink.  This beer contains Centennial, Columbus, Mosaic and Simcoe hops. I discovered Mosaic recently at a local brewery in the UK (more later) and it is without a doubt one of my favourite types of hops.  It is worth noting that this beer is more of a hops bomb than anything I have eased before. I thought Hop Hash from Sweetwater in Atlanta was impressive at 100 IBU.  This pirate IIPA has an estimated 120 IBU - it will blow your socks off!

This beer had a beautiful head retention.  Wheat was mentioned as one of the ingredients, so clearly they have mastered part of the beer making process.   The distributors are clearly doing something right by getting this all the way up to Gladstone, which is a long way away from this beers home which is Hindmarsh, Adelaide in South Australia.

My overall impression is that this is one of the nicest craft beers I have tasted and it has changed my perception of what quality you can get in a can.