BBNo East Coast

I really like numbers and booze. Everytime I try to decifer the Scotch Malt Whisky Society numbering system I close my eyes and am instantly transported to Bletchley Park, or that movie with Russell Crowe.

On par with my love for Gladiator, is my infatuation with Brew by Numbers - an excellent brewery down in Bermondsey. Long-time Beer Mile residents, one-time beneficiaries of the original BrewDog Development Fund, and multi-time brewers of really great beer. They consistently churn out a wide range that includes multiple great takes on many different styles.

I've seen brewers use all sorts of things to track their brews. Numbers seem to be favoured over letters in the brewery, but you'll find them scrawled over whiteboards, blackboards, laptops, tablets, notepads, old receipts and used napkins. Batch info sometimes makes it onto the label, but usally in a small corner usually reserved for dates and health warnings. BBNo sticks it right on their cans (as well as their bottles, fonts and the odd sticker).

For most of their existence, the brewery embraced a two-number system for their beers - two numbers divided by a Linux pipe, starting just above an index of zero at 01 | 01. The first number refers to the style, and the second refers to variations on the recipe of that style - all in chronological order. 01 | 06 tells you you're drinking a saison, and that they tried out 5 variations on the saison before they arrived at the one you're drinking.

Maybe marketing decided that two different numbers was too much for the average drinker, maybe they lost count, or maybe they ran out of numbers. Whatever the reason, at some point in the last 18 months, that second number disappeared. So today I'm drinking an 05 and thinking about what could have been...

05 | India Pale Ale | East Coast

^{Alc 6.2% | Canned on 3.2.2021}

Colour

Deep hazy gold.

Nose

Initial pineapple fading to peachy orchard fruits.

Mouth

A soft roundness that is really characteristic of BBNo's hazy offerings. Lots of fruit, not much pine. This is missing the fuller mouthfeel that often characterises the East Coast IPAs and it leads to a bit of alcohol bite in the finish.

6/10

This was good. Not as good as other stuff I've had by them in the same number (ie. style). I'm excited to get my mitts on the West Coast version and see how it compares.

This retails at £4 for a single 440ml can on their webshop, down to £three-sixty-something when taken as part of a 12-pack. Not a bad price really, for an insanely drinkable beer (the alcohol bite will go unnoticed well before you finish your first can).

jay