Whilst browsing the excellent selection of ales in Boothes
in Keswick, I was pleased to discover that they sold Thornbridge’s Jaipur.
Despite attempting to stick to the local ales, such as the highly rated beers
from the Keswick Brewery, I opted to go against the grain and include Jaipur in
my selection.
I first encountered this excellent IPA at the Big Lamp
Brewery’s anniversary beer festival, and instantly fell in love with it, and
breaking beer festival tradition went back for seconds and thirds later in the
night, after it was decided that it wasn’t worth risking a crap one at such a
late stage of the festival. A top score was jotted down next to ale’s name in
the festival program, keeping with festival rituals, as well as a brief drunken
description explaining how great it was, written whilst resting on my right
knee and balancing the half pint in my left hand, only for it to be promptly rolled
back up and stuffed into the back pocket of a pair of Levis, and soon discarded the
next morning.
Originating from Bakewell, down Derbyshire way, Thornbridge
Brewery has won multiple awards (over 200 apparently). Martin Dickie and Steffan
Cosso began brewing in 2005, before the former left to pursue a dream of
ripping off Trendies and Hipsters up and down the length of Britain, and set up
BrewDog in 2007. Over the last decade Thornbridge have created a wide variety
of ales, and having sampled their Kipling at the Newcastle Beer Festival, they’re
probably worth keeping an eye open for.
Jaipur weighs in at a very respectable 5.9%. The name, which
has multiple pronunciations depending on how drunk you are and guaranteed to
make you look like it’s the first pint that you’ve ever bought as you order from
the bar, originates from the Indian city of the same name (probably!), and pays
homage to the fact it is an IPA (if indeed the careless assumption regarding
the origin of the name holds true!). The drink itself has a distinct fruity and
grassy quality to it, but not so much that it is overwhelming, and has a good
hoppy quality to it with a honey undertone. A top drink, and whilst probably
better suited for the Summer, I’d quite happily sup this ale all year round.
