Brewery: BrewDog
Location: Fraserburgh, Scotland
ABV: 9.0%
Version: 330ml bottle
Source: GapWines, NI

By the folks at BrewDog’s own admission the original Hardcore IPA was far from it.

There was a severe hop shortage in 2008. Prices went up, availability went down. In hindsight, the middle of a hop crisis is not the best time to try and launch a hoppy double IPA. Consequently we just never got Hardcore IPA quite right. We did not get the hops we wanted for it and we could not get enough hops to do the beer justice. In 2008 it was a well mannered, polite double IPA; robustly balanced, wholesome even but not very punk, not very bold, not very BrewDog.

Tame it certainly was. Extreme it most certainly wasn’t. It was a still decent beer but not befitting of its name. But back in March this year it was relaunched. And as the blog entry announcing this new version stated -

We have completely revamped the recipe, it is now jam-packed with the hops we originally intended to use in it and contains 4 (yes 4!) times as much hops as the original incarnation. Oh and it is dry-hopped to hell too! The first ever batch of the hardcore Hardcore was bottled today.

And as if that wasn’t enough temptation -

The 150 IBUs completely punish and slaughter your palate. The bitterness endures long after you swallow and burns in your throat for hours. The nose is like being showered in Simcoe, Chinook and Pacific Gem. The palate is an onslaught of resinous pine, explosive fruits, clinging citrus, with an amazing freshness and zest.

And I can’t argue with that. In colour it’s darker than the previous incarnation, amber rather than gold. Aroma is much more pronounced too; a caramel base heaped up with fresh fruity notes of orange, mango and pear. But the taste is what we’re here for. And first impressions are hops, hops, hops and hops. A head-on citrus assault of grapefruit, lemon, orange and loads of other stuff – the tastebuds just get swamped with lovely citrus goodness. There’s some toffee malt sweetness lingering in the background but it doesn’t really stand a chance against that hop attack. This is a true hop monster, a vast improvement on the previous version, and now fully deserving of its name.