Bentspoke - Cluster 8 IIPA - Beer Review

Brewed By: Bentspoke Brewing Co (Braddon, Canberra, Australia)
Beer: Cluster 8 Double IPA (2021 Release)
ABV: 8.8%
Malts: Unknown
Hops: Mosaic, Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, Citra
IBU: Unknown

Bentspoke Cluster 8 Can

"This is a release we as brewers always look forward to putting into cans. One of our favourite BrewPub beers and experiences, we get to share with the rest of the country. As always, cluster 8 is big, hoppy yet well balanced and of course, best enjoyed fresh!" 

Richard Watkins - Co-Founder and Head Brewer 

Review

"Big and Bold" are the two words Bentspoke themselves use to sum up their 2021 release of the Cluster 8 IIPA - turns out it's a very accurate selection of words indeed.

Just about everything about this beer is big and bold. The can itself being predominantly black would no doubt have been in bold - had it been a font. And the three small logos on the front of the can (bottom, middle) indicate loads of hops, heaps of malt and lots of yeast.

Pouring out of the can we get a deep golden colour with a noticeable amount of haze - no doubt from the huge hop presence this beer contains. They've gone with a tried a true mixture of new world hops in mosaic, simcoe, amarillo, centennial and citra so there's just no way it could ever not taste great. To sum it up briefly we'd say "tropical", but more specifically we picked up notes of orange, mango and passionfruit.

BentSpoke Cluster 8 in the Craftd Alpha glass

The first sip is just like an uppercut to not just your tastebuds, but all of the senses. The first thing that hit us was the big alcohol presence, but then the juicy hop flavour pushes through, resonating within the mouth before the clean malty backbone makes itself known.

Plenty of carbonation and plenty of flavour, it's almost like a meal in a can - speaking of which, make sure you don't go attempting this one on an empty stomach - at 8.8% ABV it takes no prisoners.

Big and bold indeed, this is one very full on double IPA that should not be missed. As an annual release we're already excited to try the 2022 version.

Rating

9/10