Every Minute Matters (v1 - EMM) compared to Every Second Matters (v2 - ESM)
I am regularly told "west coast is the best coast" when it comes to IPAs. While I would normally tend to disagree based on my bias for New England as a whole, the collaboration between Siren Craft Brewery and Green Cheek Beer Company has consistently set the golden standard of a West Coast IPA (within the UK) for me personally and has dramatically swayed my views in which coast is set to rule them all. To give you the TL;DR version, both of these collaborations between Berkshire's Siren & California's Green Cheek are winners (in full disclosure, the comparison was not the first time I had tasted and preached the good word regarding either of these beers). This piece is not meant to dispute any of that but, instead, to compare and see which of the two would really take the crown. This required a pint v pint comparison, as it was not easy to name a victor without a more in depth review.
Both of these fine specimens are 7.2% West Coast style IPAs. After decanting both cans, I noticed that both variants looked similar, but with the exception that ESM is ever so slightly clearer and lighter in colour. The head on ESM held its foamy head better, but this could be due to freshness (and I cannot remember what the head was like on EMM when it was fresh from the brewery). ESM also had the slightly stronger hoppy scent comparatively.
While both beers were heavy in hops, they both hid the strength so well for a 7.2%. I would argue that ESM hid it slightly better, but it was neck and neck. They certainly go down better than any 7.2% should and that - in my opinion - makes them both lethal! Had I not seen it on the cans directly, I would have assumed it was a lower session qualifying ABV because they were both extremely crushable. EMM was hoppy but with a mango twist / fruity bite to the end of it. I would describe it as having a sweetness to it that ESM did not have as noticeably. For my taste buds, ESM was the crisper of the two and had more citrus (lime specific) qualities to it. As mentioned, it was clear to me that EMM had the slightly stronger taste in the ABV sense and, in terms of mouthfeels, EMM had a fuller and creamier characteristic while ESM had a thinner quality to it. The lightness to ESM made it go down just a tad bit smoother than its predecessor, yet my body put up a fight to neither. My only other observation between them is that EMM had a more noticeable level of bitterness to it than ESM. I'm not a hop expert, but I imagine that the difference between the Sabro (in v1) and El Dorado (in v2) may be what is impacting the difference in fullness and intensity of the hoppy profiles. The sabro hops were a lot more pronounced in EMM on the last sip and the ESM seemed to get a bit more orange-y as I neared its finish.
I did get the feeling, however, that I would potentially end up feeling a bit bloated after a few of the EMM, which I think swung things just a tad in ESM's direction. My overall preference, by a hair, was variant 2 - Every Second Matters. I can taste the progression between them and can see how Siren and Green Cheek have reunited for a second time to improve upon an already extraordinary IPA. Both variants have something to be proud of however, and to say I'm excited to try the 3rd WC IPA (Be More Pacific) is an understatement.
Is the west Coast indeed the "best" coast? The jury is still out on that one (as I am perhaps too stubborn to back down from my east coast pride)...