Baby Faced Assassin IPA Beer (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

The name of this beer, Baby Faced Assassin, brings back a few worries from the workplace. It's been a while since I've been in work due to the recovery of my knee taking longer than expected, but there's the age old worry of younger folk coming up and taking away jobs from their elders. New blood is never a bad thing, of course, there's new technologies, new ideas, and new outlooks, but it's not so good for the older folks that can find themselves in the way.

I find that it's best to try to stay with the times. That's why when I finally do go back to work I'm going to brush up on my practitioner status, as the latest five year run comes to an end early next year. I've decided to add a new twist to the course that will hopefully keep me with the times and make me a little more competitive. Plus there's always research through journals and the internet to find out what's going on in the field… but that can wait a little while…

Produced in Yorkshire by Rooster's Brewery, this 6.1% volume Baby Faced Assassin IPA is strong enough to take my mind of things for now. It's lauded for its aromas of mango, apricot, grapefruit and mandarin from its mixture of fruity citrus hops, as well as its tropical fruity flavour. On opening I can concur that there is a lot of citrus fruity aromas. I could certainly pick out mango and mandarin as the strongest with no small amount of pale malt at the back of the smell.

This deep golden India Pale Ale has a luscious sweet flavour of pale and crystal malts to begin with that mixes well with the fruity citrus hops. From the Baby Faced Assassin name I was expecting a sharp bitterness to this beer, and I received it where I least expected it. The citrus bitterness hit my tastebuds almost right at the end of the flavour. The bitter citrus tension seemed to build in each mouthful. It subtly replaced the sweet malts at first, then just before the sweet malty citrus aftertaste, like a shot in the dark came the Baby Faced Assassin!