Hop Hash
Caldera Brewing Company

19.2 oz can poured into a tulip - no date information apparent. For a relatively moderate abv (6.5) this one has a lot going for it in the world of 'big' IPA's.

Color is a luscious deep yellow-orange. The head is thick pillowy and long lasting.

The taste and mouthfeel both bring to mind what would be expected in well-know premium DIPA's (which this is not). I can't recall drinking any other 6.5 ABV IPA that I could swear was a DIPA. If Caldera 'up-ped' this brew a bit to reach a DIPA abv profile - watch out!.

To my palate there is indeed a distinct dankness.

Very glad I bought this stovepipe can on a whim. Will buy again.

can into glass
Really thick, ivory head. Medium, nearly clear orange appearance with a golden amber highlight. Ample, tangerine peel, medium toasted, spiced caramel malt aroma. Quite a bit of hops to start off the taste. A lot of tangerine and some lemon peel with a moderate level of medium toasted malt, completes the taste. Still some bite to the finish, but tempered by good, spiced citrus peel and some malt, at the finish line.

 

Look: Clear copper in color with a frothy and excited off-white head that builds to a pillow and slowly recedes, leaving great lacing behind
Aroma: Pine sap, grapefruit, fir needles, orange, hop flower resin, and some nice bready malt as well
Taste: Conifer and citrus storms out of the gate unrestrained and followed by a huge, resinous, alpha acid punch that hits quite hard. Malt and some more conifer and citrus goodness carries through until it closes out with more but somewhat calmed hop resin
Mouthfeel: Full, slick, medium-high carbonation, and medium to medium-high dryness on the finish
Overall: I dig it. I didn’t now they still made this beer nor have I ever seen Caldera beers in bottles as these folks were on the canning gig (12-15 years ago?) way before it was as mainstream as it is today, so it was a must-buy. A great throwback WCIPA and the use of ‘hop hash’ is noticed and expressed throughout – resinous, chewy, bitter, and dry. Delicious

 

 

 

 

Pours a clean amber color with a 4 finger frothy, bubbly head. Mostly malt in the aroma - meh. Taste is malt and citrus mixed up front. There is a sweet malt behind that blends well though. Comes across as a double with a slight alcohol burn along with a moderate bitterness. I have no idea where the "hash" label plays in. There is no dankness in my glass.

Poured from 22 oz bottle into chilled glass mug. Colour is amber / orange with an off white head. Smells of mild hops and a slight citrus. Taste is more fruity than most American IPA's but still mild and goes down easy. Prost!

 

Bottle from The Sampler in Bushwick NYC.

Pours a glowing orange/amber with an inch of soapy white head with spotty lacing

Smells fruity, melon, a bit piney with a whiff of baked bread

Taste starts with a very mellow sweet papaya and a hint of orange with a faint bitterness. Bitterness builds and the west coast pine notes take over as you sip. Sweet apple and bread develop on the finish. The lupulin powder leaves the bitterness at the rear side of your tongue like pepper. Overall quite tasty but I want just the a bit more bitterness.

Smooth and full bodied, but not as heavy as it looks in the glass. A little sticky, which might be why the bitterness builds up.

A little perplexing. It's good but I wish it was either more malty or more bitter. Or both. I wish I could try it on tap. I'm so over juicy east coast IPA at this point that I want to love this but it's ok. Decent. I'll try it in Oregon some time.

 

Poured from bomber into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a clear amber color with a billowy white head of foam. The head has a good level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave a great level of foamy lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell –The aroma is strongest of a fruity nature with a good deal of tropical fruits as well as a lots of grapefruit and citrus hop and a moderate showing of some herbal hops. Along with these aromas comes some light grassy and hay smells as well.

Taste-The taste begins with a nice fruity flavor of tropical fruits with plenty of tangerine, pineapple and mango. Along with these flavors comes a rather strong doughy and caramel flavor creating a very sweet taste overall. While sweet, there is some hop flavors of a grapefruit citrus flavor upfront which are joined by some pine and grassy flavors later on. These flavors grow stronger and stronger as the taste advances, with a slight drying of the sweeter caramel and the doughy tastes, the flavor becomes slightly more cracker in nature, leaving one with a lightly danked, but overall fruity and citrusy taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is on the average side in terms of thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is rather average. For the mix of hop and sweeter flavors combined with the bit of dankness and the dwindling of the sweet as the taste advances, the feel is rather nice and makes for a smoother and easy sipper overall.

Overall – A fairly nice and somewhat cleaner, but still slightly maltier, and sweeter, tasting IPA. While anything all that superb, it is certainly worth giving a try to if you get the chance.

 

 

Deep amber color with foamy off white head. Moderate lacing. Aroma is malt and bread with some light citrus. Flavor has that toasted malt, caramel and a bunch of hops bitterness thrown in. It packs a little alcohol heat even. Pine and grapefruit rind. The mouthfeel is resinous. Bitter aftertaste, with a hint of sweetness, like raw cocoa powder. A decent beer overall.