Huddle for Warmth DIPA by Bracket Brewing

Before continuing on with tales from our next leg of the Royal Tour, I wanted to throw in one more beer review.  That beer is the absolutely brilliant Huddle for Warmth DIPA from Bracket Brewing in Alexandria in Sydney. Yet another awesome brewery waving the craft beer flag for the Inner West.

I’ve had a couple of Bracket beers before and they never disappoint.  They tend to do IPA’s in every way, shape and variety.  And they do them well.  Although the do branch out occasionally (the Rum & Raison Imperial Stout being a notable example), I’m personally more than happy for them to just keep on churning out quality beers from their IPA sweet spot. 

Their Huddle for Warmth DIPA just works on so many levels.  Upon pouring it, you first notice the haziness.  It’s not billed as a hazy or a NEIPA (or NEIIPA for that matter). But it’s clearly from the cloudy, New England-y side of the IPA spectrum.  However, once you take a sip, you wouldn’t really know it.  Again, looking at it, it’s definitely hazy.  But it doesn’t have that overt fruitiness a lot of hazies do. 

What it does have is a sharp citrus peel bite to go along with a subtle but strong underlying hoppiness.  And the rest is just smooth.  Despite the haze, it’s actually a bit more like a West Coast IPA (although not as thick and resinous in the hop flavour). But even that’s selling it a bit short, because there’s a bit more going on than that. 

Overall, this beer is jusr really well done.  That name isn’t a mistake either.  Coming in at 9.1%, that booziness does indeed give you a nice warm glow inside.  But realistically Huddle for Warmth is a beer you’re going to want to linger over for a while anyway.  And it is a high-alcohol DIPA in a tall can from a craft brewery, so it’s not particularly cheap.  But jeez it’s worth every penny.  I can’t recommend this one highly enough.