Name: Kaiju Robohop IPA

Style: IPA

Country: Australia

ABV: 5.7%

Beer Description: Kaiju! Beer are a Melbournian based brewery focusing on big and bold beers. For those who like something with a bit of a kick and tons of hop goodness, almost any Kaiju! beer will be your thing. Basically speaking, the team at Kaiju! wanted to make the big beers they enjoyed. Beers with a variety of hop flavours that would be a true journey to drink. That, and beers that were little bit nerdy. Their range of beers reflects this, and the Robohop is one of their core beers.

While most of Kaiju’s beers are some sort of IPA variety (whether it be a double, a black, or a straight IPA), the Robohop is a golden IPA. It pours a nice golden colour and is actually quite unassuming. It just looks like any other Golden Ale. Not an giant robot full of hoppy goodness.

Before diving in, it’s important to know what the Robohop is made of. From the back of the bottle:

“Cobbled together from the old brewhouse, a simple Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor and gold spray paint, Robohop stood alone between Kaiju! HQ and the cataclysm. Too bad his reactor consumed more hops than the ravaging beasts.”

It’s a robot powered by a Mr. Fusion Reactor that’s running on hops. A recipe for disaster, or a recipe for tasty beer?

The aroma is very tropical. Kiwi and lychee abound, with some melon to boot. A little bit of hop resin comes through along with some citrus as well, along with mixed berries. In true Kaiju! fashion, it’s seems there’s a ton of different hop varieties in this beer, so it becomes difficult to isolate any specific aromas. They’re all tied together like a wonderful fruit salad. But simply put, the tropical aspects here can’t be missed.

There’s a little bit of sweetness and lemon to the first sip of this beer. The brewery has added a bit of wheat to the malt bill here, which smooths out the flavour profile and allows the beer to sit on the palate for a little bit longer and make it all in all a little bit easier drinking. Not to say that this is an easy drinking beer, there’s plenty of complexity in there to please craft beer drinkers. For those who enjoy a bit of a hunt, the tropical notes come through in the flavour, with a little bit of strawberry to make things a bit more fun.

A lot of Kaiju! beers pack a big bitter finish, and the Robohop is actually a bit of an outlier here. The citrus and sweetness prevents the bitterness from overbearing. For those with a bit of patience, the hop bitterness builds slowly. Sit on this beer for awhile, and it will be easy to find some bitterness in there.

Kaiju’s Robohop is a giant robot full of hops, but not in the way some would expect. While there’s obviously many different hops in there, creating a myriad of flavours to be enjoyed. Somehow though, it’s consistent. The beer doesn’t represent the battle this robot is having, rather the robot at its best, right before battle, in perfect working order.

Luckily this beer is pretty easy to come by, so don’t hesitate to give it a go!

Check out other IPA reviews.

See other Kaiju! beers.