TIPA Roads - Carwyn Canvent 2020
Hello from Hobart.
TIPA Roads - words by Justin (Brewer)
To be included in a Carwyn Canvent is an honour and a privilege, and when we got the nod to be included in Canvent 2020 it was a big ol’ mix of excitement and Freak Out! Our original plan was simple: both our development brewers go head-to-head and come up with their own concept, whip up a quick pilot brew, then distribute to our sensory panel for a blind test and pick the best one. But, as soon as we tasted the first pilot, we knew it was the one. So in typical 2020 fashion, the plan changed...
We locked it into production so it could be brewed, fermented, conditioned, packaged and shipped to Carwyn Cellars in time for them to repackage and ship out to all of you fine folk. On that, we cannot begin to imagine the logistical nightmare that would be repackaging some 60,000+ beers into their respective slots in each Canvent box. Kudos to the Carwyn team for making this happen every year!
So, onto the beer… Coming up with a Canvent beer is not easy. Up until very recently, 99.9% of our sales have been restricted to Tassie. So for this beer, we wanted to share what we as a brewery are all about, but at the same time not just play it safe - get outside our own box a little bit. We’ve had a lot of fun this year playing with big IPAs, new hops and different techniques, and we wanted to represent that. We’ve also never released a Triple IPA before, so we decided to throw caution to the wind and brew the biggest IPA we ever have, with a hop we’ve never used before.
That hop (and maybe some die-hard fans have guessed by now) is Zappa™; a relatively new to market wild hop, native to New Mexico. Although just like Frank Zappa’s music wouldn’t be possible without his (ridiculously good) band, The Mothers of Invention - we have also mixed in a couple of our favourite hops; Mosaic® and Strata™.
TIPA Roads gets its name from the Frank Zappa classic song, "Inca Roads", and is our modern interpretation of an old-school West Coast Triple IPA. Instead of the Pine and Citrus vibes you might typically get with this style, we’ve focused on the Dank and Tropical. Dialling back the crystal malt for a leaner base lets the hops shine through and keeping the bitterness in check makes for one very drinkable Triple.
As an added bonus, and we SWEAR this was not planned, today just so happens to be the late, great Frank Zappa’s birthday. So whack on "Inca Roads" and raise a glass to FZ if you’re so inclined, enjoy the holiday season and see you in 2021 (with our brand new brewery).
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Can Blurb:
The journey has always been important to us at Spotty Dog, and we feel this beer reflects where we are right now and our journey thus far.
It's our modern interpretation of a good ol' Triple IPA; nimble malts, new school hops and hopping techniques, wrapped up with restrained bitterness. And yes, it's not hazy.
Our road has led us to this point, and we're bloody excited to see where it goes next.
