Hospital IPA&E is Signature Brew and Hospital Records third collaboration, the previous being Hospital Porter and Doctor’s Orders. Keeping true to Signature Brew’s philosophy of brewing good beers to go with good music they have teamed up with South London Drum and Bass record label Hospital Records. The record label has been going since 1996 and boasts artists such as London Elektricity, Nu:Tone and Danny Byrd. Hospital Porter was a really good Porter when I had it the first time round about a year ago, so I was looking forward to seeing what the latest collaboration had to say. Created by head brewer Tom and new brewer Tibor Hostpial IPA&E is one of a few new beers that has been released by Signature Brew, others include rebrews of the previous Hospital Record collaborations and the stunning new brew of Stagediver Double IPA.
Following similar design to the previous collaborations the can label looks good, you can instantly notice the Hospital Record logo. When you first crack the can open you straight away smell the fresh hop aroma, great big pine and fresh grass hits your nostrils. On closer inspection, you can get the citrus fruits with a slightly earthy aroma in the background, as the beer warms up you also get the caramel coming through more. It pours a murky red with a big fluffy head which stays.
As soon as you sip the beer you are greeted with this huge hop flavours, the bitterness slaps you straight away, so fresh, really piney so the tip of your tongue tingles, hints of caramel malt in the middle and you do get a slight warmth from the alcohol in the finish, reminding you of the 6.7% ABV. It’s a great beer which I would imagine to be slightly dangerous to session due to the ABV. You can pick up the entire collection of Hospital Records collaboration beers in a new gift back which includes an exclusive t-shirt, check out Signature Brews website for more details.
Disclaimer – I was given this can free of charge at the Brewers Market by Tibor from Signature Brew, for which I am very grateful for. However, I do not think this affected my opinion of the beer.