Hopfuzion
Sprecher Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The body appears golden yellow and is topped with a thick, long-lasting head; gobs of foam clinging to the sides of my glass. Lots of caramel notes in the aroma. Crisp, clean taste and feel; fairly malty with a nice hop bitterness to even out the sweetness.

A rather pleasant surprise as the taste and feel weren't quite what I expected based on the aroma. Heck, I'd say the aroma seemed almost one-dimensional and with the strong caramel/butterscotch scent, I really expected this to come across like an ESB or other big malt ale. Well, hey. The flavor presents a medium-light roasted grain flavor that is nicely balanced with a non-obtrusive hop bitterness at the finish. I also found the mouthfeel surprisingly light and smooth (relatively speaking) which added to the overall satisfaction of slowly knocking back this beer. Yeah, this is a decent little lager...

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass, the beer was a golden straw color with an active white head topping the glass. A timid citrus aroma was noted coming from the glass as the foam dissolved while leaving lacing on the side of the glass. A tea-like taste was noted in the initial sip, most similar to green tea. Hopfuzion gets hoppier toward the back of the throat, while the grassier notes set the backbone. Other detectable notes include orange rind and lemon/lime soda. The mouthfeel proved to be quite fizzy like a soda, reinforcing the lemon/lime soda illusion. The carbonation brushes away the taste fairly quickly. This is not an overly hoppy beer, but it is a pleasant hoppy beer.

 

Poured a slightly hazy amber, good initial head and lace that eventually dissipates.

Very grassy herbal aroma.

Quite tea-like, with grassy, herbal, and pine notes. Considerable hop bite.

Clean smooth mouthfeel, easy drinking.

Vienna Lager? Whatever it is, it's flavorful, drinkable, and local.

Reviewed from notes.

Oh hey, always nice to see Sprecher making something new!

Translucent amber in color with three minutes of stable single finger of creamy fluffy foam and nice lacing. Refreshing crisp clean light texture and adequate carbonation levels for tongue tickling but not annoyance levels of such. One of the most sessionable mouthfeels that still maintains decent amounts of flavor I've seen in quite some time...

Smells like a freshly opened box of breakfast Muesli (the dried apple kind). This is where the beer treads on dangerous territory: It's got so much apple and citrus peel residuals in the aroma that it's really hard to call it a lager and maintain a straight face. This is where I'd suggest some room for tinkering and improvement is needed.

BeerFMAndy hit the nail right on the head; This beer tastes *exactly* like a glass of unsweetened iced tea (sans ice) augmented with a fistful of savory herbs (sage, thyme, etc) and a light dollop of whole-grain breadiness. There's also a touch of chrysanthemum florals and borage garnishes in the background as the glass warms up.

It's a POWER CHORD of herbal tea hopping characteristics, and I love how it really lets the stripped-down and chopped herbal qualities take over the center stage to shine. Whenever I have to explain to somebody what I mean when I talk about to herbal hopping flavor, from now on I merely have to point a finger at this beer and say, "That's my standard of reference right over there."

So... if you love herbal hopping, try this one. If you hate herbal hopping, avoid it like the plague.