Humulus Gold
The Bruery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another tremendously good beer from the bruery that I was beyond exited to be able to try. This one was served cold and poured into pint glasses while chillin at the pool. Consumed on 08/09/2010.

Very nice pour. Loads of white fluffy head capped a very lively an active bright yellow amber body. Really just a great show I have to admit. Huge lacing coming down the sides of the glass throughout the session really led to a full on, just immense look to it.

Aroma is dominated by lemon and ripe grapefruit that really just steal the show for me. Bright, very bright and in your face the grapefruit really shines, but as it warms it opens up into a wonderfully well balanced belgian ipa. Nice use of light yeast notes, hints of light grass, warming has a touch of light grain and a slight tartness that dries out the palate enough to beg me to drink more. There is just no way in hell this was 9 percent, it went down like water and I simply could not get enough of it.

Overall one of the best things I have had out of the bruery, an I love just about everything they put out!

Poured from a 67.7oz Bruery growler into a Loterbol tulip. Extra special thanks to errantnight for this from our recent trade!

A: Pours a bright, glowing, and hazy pale gold color. Four towering fingers of bright white foam that was quite rocky in texture. Retention was excellent with lots of sticky lace left behind.

S: Incredible citrus aromas. Fresh grapefruit zest with lemon peel and fresh squeezed tangerine. Nice layer of earthy yeast that mixes with some tropical fruit.

T: See above with a healthy helping of green hops and new hay. Also along for the ride is a fair amount of white pepper. Lots of fresh cut grass when it warms.

M: Sweet citrus notes that balance the dry and sticky astringency that comes on suddenly in the middle and sticks around 'till the very end. Finishes with a crackery prickle that keeps the tongue from becoming anything resembling bored. As the growler wore on, I noticed a mild citrus tartness emerge.

D: Another winner in the Humulus series. So far, I've had this and the lager. Both stellar! Thanks for the opportunity Derek!

What a perfect beer to close off the holiday weekend

A: Bright gold in color with some orange tinting. Slightly cloudy pour with a fluffy soap white head that sits on top.

S: Citrus hoppiness with some notes of pine followed by a bubble gum and candied sugar note.

T: It starts out with citrus and pine before trending towards the belgian aspect. It finishes with some more fruit hops notes and more bubble gum

M: Very nice body with no heat present. Good creaminess and smooth

D: Very good for a 9% beer. I would love the chance to try this one again

A: poured a nice vibrant golden orange with a thin head and very little lacing.

S: lovely piney hop citrus grapefruit aromas with slight caramel and good sweetness I'm guessing are coming from the malts. Its a very good nose.

T: nice citurus flavors with mild pine hops and sweet malts that help out on the balance. There is also some bready notes as well.

M: medium body with a good amount of carbonation that had a sweet and mild bitter finish.

D: not great but a good hop forward beer that wasn't as punchy as the nose. I was hopping it was as nice as the nose though it fell short of that. Still a decent offering from the bruery

Pours ... gold. Surprising, I know! Small white crust of foam.

Smells like biting grapefruit, an interesting bittering earthiness, and a slice of a haystack. What an aroma! Clearly the highlight of the beer.

The taste, sadly, doesn't live up to the smell. The biting hops with the farmhouse bite don't blend as well as they could, though it's still a pretty good tasting beer. Still, it's a rare beer that smells better than it tastes. Bitter earthiness, big bright shiny grapefruit.

Foamy sudsy mouthfeel.

On-tap at the Bruery

A: The pour is a lightly hazed golden color with a fluffy white head on top and some streaks of lacing on the side of the glass.

S: The hops are up-front and citrusy. Lots of grapefruit and some mild pine. There is also a bit of a Belgian yeast note to the beer.

T: The hops are quite pungent, more intense than I was expecting from some of the other Bruery's hoppy offerings. Grapefruit and lemon provide the bulk of the citrus flavors with a surprisingly piney and bitter finish.

M: The body is medium with a moderate carbonation and a crisp and bitter finish.

D: This one could give Humulus Lager a run for its money. A really great hop character and not so much yeast and ester driven.

On tap at City Beer Store in SF, almost a year ago but I had to review it now. Already put up this review elsewhere after drinking it.

Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a white head and nice lacing.

Aroma is yeasty with citrusy hops.

Flavor is the same, balanced by sweet malt and light fruity notes. Call me crazy, but I'm going to be an outlier here and say this was a phenomenal beer. An excellent merger of the Belgian Golden Ale and West Coast IPA styles.

Medium-bodied with a lively mouthfeel. Overall a really great Belgian IPA.

On Cask at The Bruery, and hand pumped and served at room temperature. Very similiar to the tap Humulus tasted at the same time, although a "more elegant" version; a "softer" version with a bit less carbonation, otherwise,

Pours a golden yellow with firm pure white head and was very attractive, although head seemed to disappear a bit faster than the tap pour.

Nose is full of hops, grapefruit peel, pine, and lemon jelly/lemon mousse. A rich complex and very intoxicating nose and perhaps even a bit more perfume than the regular tap pouring.

The citrus/lemon zest and yeast are very well balanced and in a nice full mouthfeel although the flavors are wonderful, they are a bit softer than the tap pour. Good, just not a bright.

It has a very strong hop profile and an elegant pine/lemon flavor. Nice body and character but a bit light on carbonation for me.

I still find the cask to have the pine, rich lemon, resin and bright citrus and in a well balanced brew. I hope I get the chance to taste more IPAs like this from the cask. Neat experience.

Bruery growler purchased from the brewery on 12/6 for twelve dollars, then drank on 12/7/08, reviewed from notes, split with my dad and his friend, poured into my Duvel tulip glass, color is a light golden orange, head was soapy white and about an inch thick on both of my pours, nice lacing and retention, smell was very hoppy, some Belgian yeast and sugar, citrus, and pine needles, flavor started off pretty darn dry, middle was on the sweeter side with some tropical-like fruits, finish was dry again with a nice hop twang, tasted more balanced as it warmed, mouthfeel was sticky, dry, and slightly sweet, nice level of carbonation, and taste lingered well, could drink a few pints of this no problem and I did, strength is there but hidden nicely, liked how inviting this was, will be drinking this again soon hopefully, recommended, too bad this is draft only

On tap at Stone today. My first ever beer from this heralded SoCal brewery. To say I was impressed would be an understatement.

The beer pours a fairly light gold color with good head retention and OK lacing. The beer doesn't look extraordinary, but then I took my first sip...

The beer has a very interesting nose, with some flavors of honey, funk, spice and cherry. The beer is impressive on the nose, but is nothing short of amazing on the palate. While the flavors tend to replicate the nose, there was something I initially couldn't identify. Eventually, I concluded the beer has a sauterne flavor, but with a good dose of underlying hoppy bitterness. The beer has an amazingly light mouthfeel, especially for the abv. This beer is extremely drinkable, and given it's abv., is flat out dangerous. Incredible. The cajones it takes to try to make a beer like this.... I can't even imagine.

Very, very impressive.... this is clearly a brewery to watch. Have not been this impressed by a new, young brewery in a long, long time.