I ventured into virgin beer territory over the weekend, a new IPA style all the way from San Francisco called a "Brut IPA". Apparently the trick is to make a high ABV full and flavorsome American style IPA (chocked full of tasty hop varieties) and then to use the enzyme Amylase to break down any sweetness remaining in the beer rendering it bone dry, like Brut Champagne. Normally amylase is used in big, heavy dark beers to snag excess sugars so that they're not too syrupy it's not normally needed in regular IPA's.
Anyway, I had one called "Hop Fizz" from my local brewery Siren on Saturday night and all I can say is wow! With little to no bitterness, the punishing dryness seemed to accentuate the hop flavour to such an extent that I could still taste them the next day (and I only had one small 330ml bottle!). I would wager that this style becomes popular among beer geeks over the coming months, just when you thought every conceivable style of beer had been done to death, along comes a new one!
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