IPX Single Hop Series: Organic Fuggle
Hopworks Brewery

 

1 pint 6 oz. bottle poured into a tulip. Is this truly an American IPA if its brewed with an classic English hop grown in American? Riddle me that. By way of foreshadowing, the hops certainly taste English. In either case, this is a hazy dark peach color IPA of some pedigree draped with a half-inch or so of thick and creamy white head.

Aroma is decidedly fresh, bright, green. Wonderful earthy, herbal, grassy hop notes with minimal fruit, maybe just a slight whiff of citrus. Some doughy malts and buttery yeast. Yellow flowers. Richly tannic green and black teas. Classic Fuggle even though this hop grown in the US typically does not taste identical to those grown at the original source.

Palate closely mirrors the nose. Very strong herb and green tea flavor, with a hint of something almost smoky. Grassy, weedy. A dandelion-like bitterness. Unripe peaches. Somewhat more citrus as well, which could be the American "terrior" winking through. Getting a decent amount of grapefruit that nicely complements the floral and herbal elements. Pumpkin seeds. Malts are doughly like an unsweetened pastry of some sort. On the slightly thick side, with moderate carbonation and a sweeter than expected finish in which the malts linger with their hop counterparts.

This is quite good. A floral perfume that builds over time, all the weedy and rank aspects of the English hop domain on full display, some American character, malts a tad hefty but nothing too concerning. Featuring the Fuggle solo is a bold move, a welcome nod to tradition in an amped-up tropical fruit hoppy world.

 

 

 

22oz bottle served in pint glass. Beer pours alarmingly cloudy, pale orange in color, with big soda bubbles throughout, and a medium tall white head. Mild pinecone hop aroma. Flavor is really juicy, with a grapefruit zest attack in the front quickly dying out and being replaced by a pleasant, easy drinking (though over-carbonated), pale ale body. Once you got past that initial hop edge it's really a balanced, if somewhat bland, ale. Perhaps only because it sets me up expecting PNW style IPA but then follows through with traditional English bitter sensibilities and flavor profiles. Still, quite decent. And really juicy.

22 oz bottle bought from Fred Meyer in Wilsonville OR. $4.99 Slightly hazy pale orange in colour, it hasa large creamy,thick eggshell white head. Aroma very Englishy slightly floral hops with aspects of leaves and earth. Nice Smooth floral hop taste//with a touch of earthiness in the end. Nice even palate, very easy to "quaff". Very nice enjoyable beer.

22oz bottle. The coolest thing about this offering so far is the label minutiae concerning Fuggles being the daddy (or mommy, I don't really know how it works) of the Willamette, Cascade, and Glacier varietals - awesome possum!

This beer pours a hazy, pale golden yellow hue, with one fat finger of puffy, loosely foamy, and well bubbly dirty white head, which leaves a solid band of Swiss cheese lace around the glass as it evenly subsides.

It smells of grainy, gritty, and doughy pale malt, a mild biscuity caramel sweetness, slightly dank herbal, grassy, and leafy hops - 'Britannia, oh Britannia!' - dry muddled citrus rind, vegetal tea, and a down-low perfumed floral character. The taste is more bready, and still doughy (more so from the yeastiness, I presume) grainy malt, a retreating caramel pose, a growing weedy (yeah, that kind), grassy acerbity, some garlic/scallion amalgam of sassy vegetation, and more plain noble earthy, leafy, and still cheap perfume-adjacent hops.

The bubbles are pretty low-key, almost cask-worthy in both tactile and appearance measures (more points for the English association, I suppose), a so-so medium weight, and generally smooth, these sorts of hops not the meddlin' kind. It finishes off-dry, a bit, as the malt suddenly wakes up from its stupor, and provides the heady English hop runabouts from taking too much credit.

While this is something of a mindfuck once you sit back from your pint glass and think about it - a West Coast American IPA, made with full-on English hops? Swuhhh - isn't there a law forbidding that? The pot-friendly notes are only a temporary blind, as eventually the hops delve into the perfumed essence that shouts from the mountaintops why this should not really be a persistent thing.

Poured into an IPA glass from a 22 oz bomber. No date found.

Color is hazy amber with a thin white head that faded quickly. Not a lot of lacing. Smell is hemp and grassy - an English IPA nose. Flavor is weed and grass - maybe some onion and floral notes. Finishes with a crisp bitterness. Body is pretty light, carbonation is moderate to high.

Overall, a much more European beer than an American one. I did enjoy it, but it isn't in my favorite flavor wheelhouse. Still, it seems to be well-made and pretty drinkable.

 

2014-11-10
22oz bottle poured into a large mug. No date that I can find.

Pours slightly hazy golden amber with a very small white head and a fair amount of carbonation. Little retention. Smell is tea, grass, slight flowers.

Taste is slightly onion, a little more cilantro, strong ambiguous bitterness. Slight sweet splash.

Mouthfeel is a little thin, watery, Overall, it's not bad, but I'm not very impressed.