The only other time I had Green Flash’s Palate Wrecker was when Scotty, the brewer from Rocks Brewing, invited me to a special tasting of some beers he’d brought back from the United States.

That time I felt it lived up to its name – it’s was a hugely bitter effort that caused me to pause a bit to let my palate get back to normal. So it was well worth trying again to see if anything had changed, see if it still wrecked my palate.

The short answer is, no, it didn’t. Which isn’t a bad thing at all. Instead of blathering on about how it totally wrecked my taste buds, dude, I could focus on what the beer actually tasted like. There’s a strong piney, resin-like aroma. And that carries through onto the palate, along with some distinct pineapple flavours.

And, as you’d expect, there is a hefty whack of bitterness at the back that lingers. But not so much that it stopped me from drinking anything else. So again, it seems my palate has gotten more used to highly-hopped beers.