The Kernel - Pale Ale Waimea

A hop I've never heard of from a brewery I have come to trust implicitly in a pale ale, which has never steered me wrong before. Waimea is the grand daughter of Pacific Jade and from Riwaka... Are all these names ringing a bell? Partizan brought out 2 new beers recently with Pac Jade and the Kernel Nelson Sauvin RIWAKA Tomohawk was gorgeous! New Zealand hops seem to be in vogue at the moment but it's definitely for good reason, they seem to produce the cleanest, freshest, hop flavours, providing contrast to the BIG Americans who have cornered the market until recently.

The pour on this beauty is everything you expect from a Kernel beer, it's well behaved, the head leaves speckling and reduces from a finger to a wafer. The body is pale and cloudy with medium fizz running through the gold. It smells like fresh hops, akin to driving past a hop farm with your windows rolled down, it's subtle and fragrant, enchanting and comforting.

It tastes sweet to start but that only lasts a millisecond, after that you get a big punch of grapefruit bitterness, followed by a light honey sweetness, all wrapped up in a neat little package consisting of pure drinkability.

It's no secret that I love The Kernel way of doing things:

Walk in.
Make simple beer the best it can possibly be.
Make it fresh.
Have lunch.
Walk out.

I love it because there's a certain purity to it and you can see that when you drink their beer. This was bottled less than a month ago and I reckon that may have a lot to do with how good it is but I've had Kernel beer that's been coming up to it's Drink By date and it's still been great beer. I doubt this would be much of an exception.

A great beer which is in line with the great pedigree behind it.

Food suggestion: Posh pub grub with this one I reckon. A fancy scotch egg with home made chutney in a lovely gastro pub (though that name is no longer fashionable,) is definitely on the cards for this little beauty.

Drink this if you like: Any and all of the other Kernel Pale Ales.