Hop Shifter - Bru-1, Chinook And Citra
Surly Brewing Co.

Tasted in a Spiegelau IPA glass from a one pint can on May 9, 2018. Canned 01/23/18.

16oz, canned 01/23/18. Huge frothy and sticky head slowly fades atop a hazed deep golden colored ale. Juicy hop aroma with hints of pineapple, mango, pine, orange, and grapefruit with some light caramel and honey. Big juicy tropical hop flavors as well with notes of mango, pineapple, grapefruit, orange, grassy, light caramel, pale malt, honey. Medium, sticky, resinous body; finishing bitter yet having a residual honey like sweetness. I thought this was great! I bought more of a different batch today & I look forward to trying that one too!

From a 16oz can:

Appearance: Slightly hazy gold, good head.

Smell: Mostly grapefruit with a hint of dankness.

Taste: Balanced flavor once it warms up. Starts aspirin-like dry but shifts to a bready and citrus balance as it warms.

Overall: Liked Hopshifter at the taproom, but the canned version doesn't quite do it for me. Needs to warm up more than other IPAs to taste better. Decent citrus flavor but not very exciting.

 

 

 

Pour is light hazy orange. Foamy, wet, medium white head that Fades fast with light lacing.

Smell Citrus, tropical, mango, orange and bready malts.

Taste Brady Mart, Orange, grapefruit, citrus peel, light earthy, lemon and light caramel. Finishes dry with a citrus peel linger. Medium body and fizzy low carbonation.

 

 

Poured from a 16 oz. can into a Surly chalice.

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy amber orange. Moderate amount of bubbles and a big two finger off white head that settles into a thin creamy layer.

Smell: A juicy and ripe hop driven aroma with a scent of citrus and pine. Upfront citrus hop scent of orange peel, grapefruit, mango, and tangerine along with pineapple. Earthy hop hints of pine resin and grass. Also some hints of berries. Malt hints of caramel, grains, and cracker with some yeast. A very good juicy aroma.

Taste: Like it smells, a juicy and ripe hop forward taste with notes of citrus and pine. Upfront citrus hop notes of orange peel, grapefruit, tangerine, and mango along with pineapple and berries. Background malt notes of caramel, cracker, and grains along with yeast. A pretty good taste.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Juicy, oily, bitter, and drying.

Overall: Another good batch in this series of IPAs. Big citrus punch with a nice touch of berry flavor.

 

This beer pours a slightly hazy orange with a large head. The aroma features notes of mandarin orange, pineapple, mango, play-dough, marmalade, and cantaloupe. The flavor is a fairly sweet flavor with sweet pine, green tea, cantaloupe, mango, seville orange, wet earth, lemongrass, and lavender. The mouthfeel is reasonably round with bright, tingly carbonation. Overall this is a likeable ber, with a cool earthy, clay like quality I find utterly familiar and likeable.

16oz can, sample from the brewery.

So a gluten reduced IPA ... need to try more of these types of beers.

Mildly hazed dirty orange hue, great looking lace on top. Big citrus rind flavor with lots of earthy undertones, big kiss of what tastes like caramel within the malt bill. Not overly bitter but more than enough to come across as an IPA. A pretty easy drinking IPA without all of the hoopla.

4-pack of 16 oz cans purchased for $9.99. Canned on 01/23/18 with hop varieties ink stamped on can.. With this series it will be very important to check the bottom of the can before purchasing.

Pale amber color with a slight haze. A small dense head forms and does not really settle. Heavy lacing is left down the glass. Aroma of berries, pineapple, citrus, and some tropical fruit. The flavor is old school West Coast IPA with its bitterness. The Citra is certainly notable and I assume Bru-1 is bringing the berry flavor. Pleasant enough hop flavor but the malt base is rather unremarkable. Dry and grainy with little character but I guess it gets out of the way of the hops. Lively enough carbonation which you can never be too sure you will get with Surly cans. Certainly a drinkable IPA that has some unique hop flavor. Pleased enough that I will give future hop combinations a try.

High hopes. I love Abrasive, Todd, Furious, Overrated, etc. Green 16 oz. can packaged 1/23/18 with Bru-1, Citra, & Chinook. Doesn’t sound putrid at all.

The pour is clear light golden with plenty of life. The nose is tame to the point of coma: bits of mango, grains, aimless sweetness. Eh.

Hopshifter – Bru-1, Chinook, Citra is certainly of the matrix – both as good as their historical hop-bombs & oddly disappointing. The happiness comes in the form of a bruising west coast bitterness, which seems to be going the way of the dinosaurs & moderate Republicans, & a light fruitiness that my warped palate is reporting in as pineapple & blueberry. The disappointment stems from a graininess that borders on Wheatslam territory, giving the beer a mixed genre feel & diluting the pure joy of a good IPA…which seems really odd considering the gluten-reduced label. Bitingly dry & very easy to put down.

Not the glory I was looking for, but a solid, drinkable IPA. Looking forward to more experiments…