Be More Pacific vs Be Even More Pacific
Months back, I did a Pint vs Pint of the Siren Craft Brewery and Green Cheek Brewery collaborations “Every Minute Matters” vs “Every Second Matters” - two West Cost style IPAs. Since that original collaboration, Siren have continued to push out stunning West Coast style IPAs and - for me - have set the gold standard of what I expect UK breweries to provide on the higher end of the spectrum. Back in July, Siren released Be More Pacific (BMP) - their 6.8% ABV California IPA - which was then followed up in August with Be Even More Pacific (BEMP), another Cali IPA but with an amped up ABV of 7.3%. Being the person I am and the joy I get from comparisons, it was obvious I was going to get them both and do a comparison.
(Disclaimer being this was one back in August and not recently consumed)
In terms of appearance, they both had the crystal clear and golden coloured appearance that I’ve come to expect from a good West Coast IPA - especially the ones that Siren churn out. Interestingly enough, I did feel I noticed BEMP was hint darker in colour but only noticeable when holding them side by side in the light. In terms of differences, I would say that the BMP held its head ever so slightly more while the BEMP was a marginal bit thinner, but holding up for a slightly longer length of time.. I do expect them both to achieve the coveted “crispy boi” status based on the bubbles that I can see, but BEMP had more of those fast moving bubbles compared to BMP.
With the aromas - BMP was loaded with both hoppy and malty smells with a fair amount of citrus mixed in. BEMP was heavier in the sweetness of the malty smell but less so when it came to the citrus.
Tasting Be More Pacific first (which utilised Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo and Azacca hops), I found it crisp and refreshing. With very mild bitterness and some light citrus notes, I also picked up a bit of coconut in the taste (which is surprising as it had no sabro involvement). While there were obvious pine notes, it wasn’t as if I was drinking a pine forest air freshener. The mouthfeel itself may have been on the thinner side, but in terms of flavour it was full.
After sampling BMP, I tasted Be Even More Pacific on its own (which used Nelson Sauvin, Citra, Simcoe and Hallertau Blanc hops) and found it had the similar piney quality in flavour, but with more dry fruitiness. I expected more crispness than I got, but it did have that same coconut edge to it (again, surprising with no sabro). The mildly sweet but dry taste of white grape from the Nelson Sauvin came through heavily which really stays with you
and was very pleasing. The bitterness came through more in the linger than the main taste (unlike BMP) and I picked up minor herbal qualities. Truly, it was a very moreish beer.
Revisiting them both to do a direct side-by-side comparison and I found that the immediate bitterness was more prevalent in BMP, while the lingering bitterness and dryness was showcased in BEMP. Despite having slightly more carbonation bubbles in BEMP, it was actually (and surprisingly) less crisp in taste than BMP. With BMP, bitterness was king with a heavier citrus quality while BEMP was more hop-forward. BMP felt a bit more traditional WCIPA style, leaving BEMP feeling a bit more experimental due to the Nelson Sauvin hops previously mentioned. While they were fairly comparable (outside of the varying ABV and slightly different hops), they had their own minor differences that were only spotted upon doing this more detailed comparison where I was looking for the differences (unlike the difference gap between Every Second Matters and Ever Minutes Matters).
For me, the Be Even More Pacific was a tad more appealing to me overall based on my personal preferences because it had that slightly lower bitterness to it and I love white grape. I would never turn either down, however, as they were both a lovely bit of West Coast sunshine in a can. Siren absolutely crush West Coasts every time they swing.