![]() ![]() The beer may finish a little sweet, but that hop character is A-plus stuff. There’s a bigger, sweeter melon character on the palate, like juicy cantaloupe slices and lawn clippings with a bit of vanilla and a hint of lemon. We can’t argue with results: Those hops imbue the aroma with piles of mango and mandarin orange atop a base of cantaloupe and glazed breakfast pastries-the beer smells like brunch. Rakau is a hop of New Zealand origin, but Back East cofounder Tony Karlowicz says he’s getting his from Massachusetts because he thinks the ones grown stateside are better. And those were the only three beers they sent! In sports, they call that “batting a thousand.” Rakautra is an India wheat ale (meaning its grain bill includes more malted wheat than your typical IPA), is brewed with Rakau and Citra hops (its name is literally just a combination of the two) and it was the first New England-style IPA made at the brewery. Let’s take a second to marvel at Back East, for of all the breweries who were part of this tasting, they alone had three beers make our top 50. While the finish is a little sweet, the hop flavors are so bold and interesting, we don’t really care.īack East Brewing (Bloomfield, Connecticut) Post-swallow, a more classic tangerine and mint combo lingers, which is probably a good thing. And the flavor follows through on the nose’s promise: Black garlic and cannabis burst on the tongue before a hint of spearmint settles in. Caramelized garlic, mandarin oranges and oyster crackers provide a base across which the dank notes drift-we might call this “stinky” if we didn’t find all these aromas so pleasant. The stickiest and ickiest of any of the beers we tasted, Dankosaurus combines Apollo, Bravo and Eureka hops for an aroma like a bag of weed big enough to knock out a Triceratops. He’s a grown man.) The fruit and allium continue their graceful waltz across the palate, popping quickly with passion fruit and orange zest before eventually bowing toward flaky pastry crust and a supportive crackery snap at the dry swallow.Ĭedar Creek Brewery (Seven Points, Texas) (One of them even exclaimed “Oooh!” after taking a whiff. ![]() After a slew of duds, Gold Digger appeared before our judges with a brilliant aroma twirling passion fruit, sweet white onion and dried pine atop an oyster cracker dance floor. Sometimes a beer hits you at just the right moment with just the right flavors such was the case here. Bold tangerine zest and baked pineapple pop up alongside lemon pepper midpalate, while mild hop spiciness tingles the tongue through the NEIPA’s soft, white-bread finish. In Diamond Dust he’s able to ply Cashmere and Mosaic hops for an aroma that lays bright papaya, blood orange and fresh grass clippings above doughy malts. And a little more than a year after opening, he’s doing amazing things in the leased-out space. Unfortunately, that brewery burned down in March 2015, but the fire became the impetus for Sawyer’s move to SD and his eventual landing at Pure Project. It’s helmed by Winslow Sawyer, former head brewer-at age 22, no less-of Boulder Creek Brewing Company in Cali’s Santa Cruz Mountains. If you’re not yet familiar with Pure Project, here’s the gist: The brewery’s located in SD’s Miramar area, inside a turnkey brewhouse set up by a local property developer as part of what it calls the “Brewery Igniter” program-basically, the company builds out a space with a fully functioning brewery, then leases it to new or growing breweries, circumventing the massive start-up costs many breweries spend years climbing out from under. Pure Project Brewing (San Diego, California)
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