Tears of Green - Vic Secret & Citra
Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.

 

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $4.99. Canned on 11/11/20, so this is just shy of 5 months old.

Look: Pours a very hazy yellow color. A lot more pale than most NEIPAs. The head didn't stick around very long.

Smell: This has a pungent nose - a lot of dank and herbal/oniony notes. There's some underlying green fruity notes of pineapple, orange, and lemon as well as some candy sweetness underneath the sea of green. It's oddly perfumy, in a way. But I am a little scared because I think that this is going to be super bitter.

Taste: Citrus notes come to the forefront. There is actually a pretty good balance between juiciness and bitterness in this beer. It's interesting, and I'm not really sure what to make of it. Usually, the brewer takes a side but this one is straddling the line. Up front and on the mid-palate, it's a bit juicy and sweet, citrusy, and tropical. The finish is full of grapefruit pith and rind, and it lingers long on the palate. It's very bitter but also very flavorful with grapefruit oil and zest. Also a lot of herbal greenness on the finish - almost medicinal, the finish is super dry and bitter.

Feel: Soft mouthfeel, nice carbonation.

Overall: I kind of like this beer, but I think that it is a bit too bitter for me. I like bitter beers, but this is a bit much even for me; it's to the point that it's not so enjoyable to me. They weren't kidding when they call these beers Tears of Green - emphasis on the green!

Poured from a tallboy can into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Hazed medium golden pour with big fluffy white head. Great retention and lacing.

S: Fruit/citrus. Grapefruit and rind.

T.F : Semi-sweet up front. Crackery grains and big citrus. Tangerine, grapefruit, and orange rind. Pineapple and pine.. citrus and berry at the finish. Modest bitterness gives some nice balance. Medium bodied and creamy mouthfeel.

O: Very tasty brew and I like the hop mix. They played very nicely together. Well worth a pickup.

 

 

Can from Jeff, thanks again!
Pours a hazy lemon yellow color with a thin frothy white head that shows moderate retention. Citrus orange earthy grassy with bits of pith and sweet bread. Pretty good.

16oz can dated 11/17/20.

Pours cloudy gold with a short-lived head of white. Minimal retention or lacing. Dank citrus pith in the nose with weed, pear, unripe peach, and white grapeskins. Medium bodied with somewhat crisp but tacky mouthfeel. Zesty citrus on the palate with minimal malt and a moderate bitterness. Grapefruit, peach skins, and melon rind. Finishes dry with lingering juicy citrus.

 

A - Light opaque yellow gold color with thin lacing.

S - Juicy citrus, pineapple, sweet grapefruit.

T - Pineapple, sweet grapefruit, pine bitterness, berry, and lingering citrus and pine bitterness.

M - Thick and pillowy soft with light vibrant carbonation.

O - This hop version is a pretty fantastic IPA - recommended.

 

Though this was originally added earlier in 2019, my can is dated 11/17/20. I bought it in NH, where Cpt. Lawrence just started distributing, so perhaps they thought it fitting to begin their distro drops with a rebooted version of an earlier TOG concept? Whatever the reason, I'm excited for this one because Vic Secret and Citra are both great hop varietals and CL tend to be pretty good at stuff like this when they want to be. Hopefully this is one of those times!

The pour is a very nice, fluffy-looking golden-yellow with stable protein-driven haze in the body and a superb cap of dense foam just kind of... sitting on top of the beer. It doesn't recede whatsoever, so the legs are fantastic just by virtue of how little the head even dissipates, and the lace that does show up is excellent, too. No problems with this one at all. Great appearance.

Aroma is packed with herbal and piney dankness backed up by a big hit of orange/tangerine, passion fruit, and guava. This smells very nice and super-approachable right off the bat, though I do detect a slight undercurrent of plastic-ness that is a touch distracting. That being said, most of what's happening here is pretty damn fun and indicative of a good treatment of the involved hops. I think I've got my hands on a pretty good offering here!

First sip is definitely a medium-strength, chalky and yeasty NEIPA with flavors of tangelo, passion fruit, lychee, and grapefruit with a backing note of herbal hops and some earthy spice that I didn't quite expect from this combo. It's heavy and bolder than expected, with a touch of "creaminess" that is intriguing but maybe not cohesive overall. This hop combo should feel sharp and almost overly-intense in my opinion, and I think it stops just short of that in a way that isn't as satisfying as I'd like it to be. Finish has some medium bitterness with aspirin-like elements, pine, and a bit of grassy/green dankness. Overall, I had some high hopes for this, and it starts off pretty strong, but some minor letdowns build up and leave it feeling a bit less-good than it probably wants to be.

 

 

 

 

 

This New England styled IPA was poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a very nice looking soft burnt yellow to orange paper color. Sly cap of a little white foamy head swiftly gliding off. Some filmy lace coated my glass.
The aroma took in a nice blend of white grapes, orange juice and soft sweet honeydew; sweet, full and a touch of bitterness. Slight pine needle rolling into some clean biscuit malt.
The flavor moderately yielded towards a very nice sweetness of white grape, juicy oranges, and a fully sweet honeydew effect with a clean sweetness. Aftertaste was mainly white grapes, honeydew and a clean biscuit malt.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Nice low key carbonation and appropriate ABV. Pretty damn smooth all around. Nice white grapey to honeydew-ish semi-sticky finish.
Overall, a very nice New England styled DIPA well worthy of coming back to.

A: Pours a murky almost milky pale to medium golden yellow in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate bright yellow + lemon yellow + straw yellow colored highlights. The beer has a three finger tall dense sudsy foamy bright white head that slowly reduces to a handful of patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of slightly mottled very thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a medium thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate to significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of juicy citrus/grapefruit, citrus/lime, tropical/papaya, herbal, and pine hops over the top of just shy of moderate aromas of biscuit + grainy + wheat + oat malts with a light amount of grainy sweetness.

T: Upfront there are just shy of moderate flavors of biscuit + grainy + wheat + oat malts with a light amount of grainy sweetness. That is followed by moderate to strong flavors of juicy citrus/grapefruit, citrus/lime, tropical/papaya, herbal, and pine hops which imparts a light amount of bitterness which slowly fades away leaving lingering grapefruit + lime hop flavors.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Light to moderate amounts of soft/fluffiness mid-body and a light to moderate amount of dryness in the finish.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a pleasantly soft/fluffy mouthfeel. An enjoyable and interesting hop profile that features citrus/lime so prominently. I would gladly have this one again.

 

16 oz can poured into a pub-style pint.

Appearance
Hazed-out dirty blonde. 1 finger of loose white head.

Nose
Dank, floral, lavender, peach, passion fruit, lychee, and potpourri.

Taste
Bright zesty florals, pine needle, and wintergreen. Peach skin, lychee, and passion fruit. Light lavender and potpourri. A touch of honey sweetness. Finishes with grapefruit zest and tangerine pith.

Mouthfeel
Medium bodied, crisp, and semi-dry with a medium bitterness.

Overall
It's definitely dryer and slightly more bitter than the previous beers I've had in this series. It's pretty weak compared to those.