Day 159, Beer 159 - Salopian's "Vertigo"

Today's Beer

Name – Vertigo

Brewer – Salopian

Classification – Black IPA

Strength – 7.2% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – The very deepest, darkest brown currently known to humankind. Monumentally appealing.

On the nose – Sweet, razor sharp citrus. Impossible. Delightful.

On the tongue – Off the scale. Every scale, and in every sense.

On the subject – Salopian sent Vertigo over to me with a bonus bottle of their Darwin's Origin, one of the more established beers on their roster but one which I'd also never tried before. Needless to say I have tried it now, and it ranks among the greatest bitters I've tried in a very long time. I figured that was worth mentioning.

On the market – Vertigo is hideously rare at this early stage in its existence  If you live near a specialist beer shop you might be in luck – providing you can dodge the long range missiles launched at you almost constantly by jealous folk like me who don't live anywhere near a specialist beer shop. Alternatively, you could avoid harm by going online.

On the whole – 9.5/10

Full Review

I've never sniffed a fluid so much.

There was a peculiar moment early on in this review session when I wondered if it might be better if I didn't transfer any of this beer into my mouth – as the only possible outcome was sure to be a relative reduction in the amount of pleasure the substance was already bringing into my sorry little life. After all, handing over responsibility from one sense organ to the next can so often result in a joy-sapping anti-climax – especially in these days of ever more fevered hop-centric experimentation wherein pungent 'whiffs' can often be followed by oddly lacklustre tastes. (I still don't really understand how high fragrance and low flavour can so easily coincide.)

Anyway, having eventually reminded myself that beer reviews traditionally require at least a rudimentary flavour assessment, I took the plunge and had a sip.

Well, I'm happy to report that the nose-to-mouth progression in Vertigo's case was not at all anti-climactic. Indeed, by some miraculous means, what rapidly became one of the best smelling beers I've ever encountered also turned out to be one of the best tasting. Who'd have thunk!

As you can imagine then, what we're dealing with here is a drink of exemplary all-round quality, but oddly enough that's not the best thing about it.

It's not just a good beer – it's also a useful one.

I think this could be the perfect beverage to bridge the gap between those who are keen to remain within the hallowed walls of Traditional Beersville, and those who have flown that particular nest and feel determined never to return.

Ingeniously, Vertigo sums-up in one delicious glass the last half decade or so of creativity which has all but transformed the beer industry, whilst also being a beer imbued with a super clear sense of tradition. It's unquestionably a 'funky modern', but it's also one of those ever-familiar fine ales we've all grown to love at some point in our beer-supping lives. In effect, this is a brew that drinks like a concise appraisal of beer's entire story, starting right back from ale's humble beginnings, and zooming right the way through to the current outer margins of contemporary ingenuity and innovation.

Very often I find myself thinking how glad I am that I'm a beer drinker at this particular point in time. Lovers of the brewer's art today have such a wealth of options available to them, there are almost no limits to the variety of flavours, textures and aromas, notwithstanding the boundless range of colours, strengths and even recommended serving temperatures to constantly leave us with exciting new territory to explore. And for those not wishing to leap too far from tradition, there are obviously still an abundance of well known, 'classic style' beers being produced and enjoyed. But just to have the option of switching back and forth from our old favourites to the new breed of flavour-forward concoctions makes us a very lucky bunch in my estimation.

And what beers like Vertigo give us – is the chance to do both all at once.

Beers like Vertigo shrink the gap between old and new beer styles with effortless grace, and they are pretty much guaranteed to leave members of all three camps (the trads, the mods and the go-betweens) with nothing but smiles on their satisfied faces.

When I say beers 'like' Vertigo, I don't mean Black IPA's, necessarily. Some of these beers can feel distinctly 'edgy' and contemporary (which is fine by me),whilst others can feel like someone has simply applied 'new funky jargon' onto the label of a watery stout.

Vertigo is an excellent drink in its own right, which happens to wear the Black IPA name (with strong justification), but which takes the concept of 'style fusion' back to its essential roots. Consequently, you have a beer which feels fresh, modern and dynamic, but which is also appropriately aware of the back-story to its own existence.

As I started writing this, I felt that listing the many flavours at work within this beer was much less important than stressing just how enjoyable and how downright 'important' I believe this brew is, as well as how the assembly of Vertigo's flavours is every bit as key as the nature of them. But as I know that such an omission would (rightfully) annoy most of you, I'll now pull out just a few of the major flavour players -

Tropical tree fruit, hedgerow berries, rich molasses, dark roast coffee, star anise, kiwi, gooseberry, burnt toast, licorice, traditional 'fruit salad' chews, black forest gateaux, wild grass, giant lorry loads more.... are you getting the picture?

Let me re-emphasise, though, that this beer is about so much more than taste. It's an education. A comprehensive lesson in beer's history, starting at the very beginning, and showing us all just how far we have come.

A modern beer with a classic soul.

It is simply magnificent.

Find it, buy it, drink it.

Whatever beers you love, you will love this beer.