Parish Brewing Co. has printed the hops and the hops' aroma compounds side by side on the can. Vermillionaire II lists Citra, Nectaron and Nectaron terpenes across its label. That turns out to be a fair account of how the beer was built.
It is a follow-up rather than a reinvention. Parish says Vermillionaire II sits on the same plush, hazy 8% Double IPA base as the original, and the change is in the hopping. The original, still listed on the brewery's site, was a Citra beer through and through: Citra, Citra Spectrum, Strata CGX and Citra terpenes. The sequel keeps Citra in the mix but hands the lead to Nectaron, then adds Nectaron terpenes and, in the brewery's phrase, a splash of Skyfarm Pineapple terpenes.
That swap is the interesting part. Nectaron is a New Zealand aroma hop from Plant and Food Research that only reached commercial release in 2020. The profile it is known for runs to pineapple, passion fruit, peach and a lift of pink grapefruit. Set that beside the tasting notes that Parish is supplying - waves of pineapple, passion fruit, peach and bright citrus, wrapped in a soft, pillowy body - and the two lists are close to identical. The terpene additions are not pulling the beer somewhere new. They are leaning harder on the direction the hop was already headed.
Terpenes are the volatile aromatic compounds that make up most of hop oil. Isolated and dosed in after fermentation, they let a brewery raise aroma without adding more plant matter to the tank or more bitterness to the glass. That is why they have become a way of amplifying a hop rather than replacing it. Parish calls the original Vermillionaire its first terpene experiment; the brewery describes this one as juicier, louder and more expressive than the beer it follows.
Vermillionaire II is out now at $17 for a 4-pack of 16-ounce cans, available in the Broussard taproom, through the brewery's online shop, and across Parish's distribution footprint in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and southeast Texas. UPS direct shipping is open to consumers in Washington D.C., Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Virginia at a $25 flat rate for one to six 4-packs. It is also going into the September Parish Beer Club box.
Source & Editorial
JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.