Total Crystalation (Fresh Hop Total Domination)
Ninkasi Brewing Company

Another beer from the Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild Festival put on by Sierra Nevada in Chico, CA.

Pours a light amber color with 1/3" of the lightest off white head. Fresh hop Crystal hops aren't much of a match for all that Carahell/Crystal malt going on. Vague bitter hop note, but not much in terms of specificity gets through the amber waves of grain.

More caramel, a little bit of grapefruit, pine and lesser orange to it. Stickier than the original. I've never really found the Summit hop to come out in the OG and its no difference here, lacks that garlic, onion and dank effect from it. Must be very little of it. More copper notes coming out of it than anything related to Summit. While the normal total domination is serviceable, this one falls short of that for the most part. It seems like it is 90% Crystal hops and then like 5% of Amarillo and Summit each, because they just don't show up in comparison.

6.7% abv for those keeping score at home.

Had this beer on thanksgiving and we all poured out half of the growler we got... this beer tastes just like every other poorly made ipa. Apple's and bitterness.

Poorly made ipa

 

 

 

 

 

this beer is great, one of the best hoppy beers i have had from these guys, just really well made, is it all crystal hops i wonder? it has that sort of old school west coast spiciness to it, like a bigger leafier cascade of sorts, bitter and vegetal, not so oily, but loaded with unadulterated wet hop goodness. strong notes of orange in the flavor, bitter peel and sweet flesh alike, and then that earthy grassy hop spice. pretty potent. orange rusty colored brew, absolutely perfectly clear, never really seen that in wet hop beer before, and holding a light inch of bubbly wheat foam. spectacular to visually admire. this is top quality beer. i feel like when these guys first showed up here in colorado everything was awesome and exciting. not it seems like old beer or less inspired stuff more often than not, so this was a needed reaffirmation of how awesome these guys are with hops. different than other wet hops beers, more bitter but also really clean compared to the field. havent seen much around unfortunately, but this is really good.

 

 

 

Appearance: orange in color with a 1/2" head that slowly falls. Some lace paints the glass.

Smell: floral hops and some orange citrus are detectable by the nose.

Taste: caramel, orange, lemon zest, and a fresh floral hop presence created a simple but flavorful profile.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer. Crisp from the start, less crisp at the finish. Refreshing.

Overall: a well balanced beer with loads of orange and floral hops. Several of these can be had in a session.

 

 

Served on draft into a 16 ounce tumbler.

Decent ale overall, but nothing that that stands out that would make me want to order it again.

Coloring was a nice reddish copper with a big head.

Nose was sort of subdued. Didn't notice much.

Taste wise it was balanced but sort of plain. The malts and hops were very subdued and basic.

Growler from the Growler Guys in Meridian... It has been on at a couple other places too. Pours clear orange with a short-lived white head.. Hops in the nose show as grassy with some melon notes... The hops don't translate well to the palate, instead it has a pretty bruising bitterness with little complexity to stand up mid-palate.. Not my favorite, but not bad.. Just outside my wheelhouse.

3.75/3.5/3.25/3.25/3.25