Pernicious Weed DIPA is one of my all time favorite beers, so the moment this special version blipped on my rader I knew it was going straight in the reviews pile. First appearing at this year’s Beervana and now in cans, this Double Pernicious also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the classic New Zealand IPA. The double in this case doesn’t refer to the strength (at 10 per cent it’s only 2 per cent stronger than the original) but the dry hopping, with a double dose of Nelson Sauvin and Rakau getting heaved in. Massive grapefruit and passionfruit on the nose, sharp and grippy up front with sweet juiciness hiding further inside. At first the flavour is hugely rich and sweet, but then the hops begin to creep out of the malt and spread over the entire palate, bringing more grapefruit and gooseberry along with them. The bitterness is slow to build, but gradually grows over the long finish to become a true force of nature by the end. A tremendous application of the ‘more is more’ philosophy, and while it can’t quite dethrone the Yuzu edition as the pick of the Pernicious bunch for me, this is still a smashing example of NZ IPA taken all the way.
