ROO RIDE, Session IPA

ROO RIDE

Style: Session IPA
Brewed: AleBrowar, Poland
Tested: Bottle, September 2016

I was wondering whether I need to start this post with a disclaimer. I generally have a deep respect to AleBrowar. In my opinion they have delivered one of the best beers I have ever tried – Golden Monk. On the other hand – I haven’t seen any really ass kicking beers from them recently, therefore I was starting to worry a bit.

When I have seen the (kanga)ROO RIDER, I just had to have it. Especially, that there was a whole discussion from one of the bloggers about the findings connecting bitter taste with malevolent behavior. Just to keep the long story short, a recent PNAS paper once again has proven that there is a connection between bitter taste preference and dark personality traits. The theory is not new, but for the first time data look very solid. For the ones that like bitter beer – no you are not a psycho. But if you normally eat a bitter food and add a 200 IBU IPA on top – there are good chances that you may be one. One more thing – many people say that the taste can be “gained” and it clearly changes with the age. True.

But the same is with many psychiatric diseases, they do not pop up when you are young, they do come with the age. Therefore, the argument – I stated liking bitter taste just recently, therefore I cannot be a psycho is formally not valid.

So much for the science. And the RooRider – well, it smells incredibly. Like a wet dream of hop lover. Really, really nice. Sadly, this is the best part. Session IPA, or not – I don’t give a damn. What I care about is that Roo Rider is only bitter. Bitterness is unpleasant and awful. Aromas of grapefruit and pine are quick killed by the overall bitterness. Normally, I am happy with very bitter beers. If you can give me IBU 100 + I will love it – but those beers usually have a great aromas and tasty notes to offer on top of their bitterness to balance the taste. Roo Rider lacks such add-ons. Flat, bitter, distasteful, bad. In my eyes one of the worst beers I have tried this year.

PS> Thanks to eBrowarium for delivering this one.