Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net
Before I start let me admit something so you’ll understand: this is one of the better fresh hop beers I’ve had, commercially. So many miss the mark and only get harsh. This one: they still probably boiled the fresh a tad too long. But they got the body right, really great caramelized undertones that caress the tongue with a sense of full. The problem is the harsh is still there and it’s so easy to limit. Just add latter.
So many commercial beers hopping on the fresh hop train miss the necessary body to distract from the harsh fresh hop with too long of a boil. This does not, but still could have been more pleasant with shifting some to latter additions.
Nice clarity, with a 3 srm, approx, and a copper/gold mix depth. Pillow head with some medium rock bubbles. It does hang for a short while but then fades.
As it warms the harsh actually fades a tad while malt comes forward: making it even better. That’s weird. Usually hops pop out with warming.
Mouthfeel is a firm body with a deep bitter that is just a tad too harsh. I wouldn’t quite call it “astringent,” just a too long boil hop harsh. Carbonation light yet very evident with a slight carbonic stab to the tongue.
I’m going to cringe and push this into 4 territory: especially since I think I had a previous year’s version and the boil was even longer making the harsh worse. A good part of a great fresh hop is aroma rather than taste, and while this has great aroma too much harsh went into the taste… but not enough to slip it into a 3. So I’m rewarding the direction they’re going with a 4.
