Profiled by Maria Devan
The beer is 5% abv and uses for malt pilsner and pale malts. For hops the website says German “tettnag” – is that spelled wrong? Tettenang? Tettenanger? The hops are tettenang. The other hop they are using is listed as German mittlefruh. In my experience that is Hallertau mittlefruh or Hallertauer hops. See how the region then the hop variety is in the name, which denotes that these hops are specific to a region and that is because of the German language.
I am very excited about Ithaca brewing this beer. Cheers and Happy Two Beer Sunday!
The pour is yellow and a slight haze. A White head that falls fast and bubbles that rise are all over the glass. Thank you Kerry for this lovey new glass!
Nose is bready malt and lightly cool herbal hop. Spice and floral. These hops have a quality like earth and stemmy grass. There’s no fruity esters form yeast, no diacetyl, no dms on the nose. No fruit scent from hosp either. Nothing, no citrus. This is the noble hop at it’s very best. Soft sweet earth and a wonderful complexity all it’s own owing to terroir.
The taste is breaddy but softly with the addition of pale malt. The hop herbal is just forward. It’s actually the use of the pale malt that is showing me the juicy quality of these noble hops that are found in so many pale ale styles and with very different hops! Crisp clean and with only a the faintest trace of dms to usher in the crisp finish. Strong bitterness finishes the beer but it does not strip the flavors or the finish. It lingers bitter and clear.
Exemplary.
4.5
Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”
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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. That’s Maria in the middle. The other two are not, but they are lucky to have her as a friend.