Matt & Elly Brewery & Kitchen

Beyond the hip music and trendy Portland, OR vibe there is finally a brewery with true IPAs in Basel. Their Session IPA and DIPA are both excellent. The Session IPA is a bit over the traditional upper bounds of a %ABV session. But, those wonderful notes of citrus and floral components from the Citra hops and the classical fruity notes from the Mosaic shine through with aromas that will take you to many different beer locations you’ve visited in the past. Tasting is tight. Tangerine and lime, balanced and followed up by a classical West Coast earthy characteristic that linger on the palate. Wonderful. Just wait until you try the NEIPA and DIPA variants. Great floral and fruit notes on the NEIPA. It’s an award winner and good beer. Not your trendy and overly sweet NEIPA concoction of extra sugar on the palate. Instead, an extra bite at the back end. Not too much, just enough. For those of you looking for a family relation to that Melvin 2x4 IPA from the US, look no further than the DIPA. Mid-amber color, with wonderful malt sweetness backed up with bitterness to balance. Not too sweet or bitter. Very, very good. So much I had to have a second and by far my favorite. This should be THE award winner in my books.

Do they have food? Oh yea. Do I need to say more?

But, for those of you that want another me-too Lager, move along. Nothing to see here. My worst fear is that the local Baselers won’t get it and I can’t stop in next time I visit.