Union Dew IPA
The 3 Legged Crane

 

 

Appearance-Pours a clear amber with a huge creamy head that capped the beer beautifully the result of a nice cask draw.

Smell- Nothing off, but the aroma is very light and not to much hop apparent.

Taste-Hugely hoppy flavor right out of the gate, yet somewhat balanced with a beautifully complex malt flavor. A bit of carmel and even some toffee sweetness. Hops are mostly floral, spicy and herbal. Not surprisingly the appear european in nature from a brewery that focuses on UK style. Hops linger on palate for quite a while.

Mouthfeel-Creamy middling body and sticky with hops. Smooth and lightly carbonated as normal for cask ale.

Drinkability-ABV is reasonably low, but with hops around 100 IBU the sheer volume of bitterness makes this a chunky sipper. Slow going but quite enjoyable. You could look at it as more flavor for your dollar.

As with the reviews made by Red Diamond, I found this to be the least interesting and impressive beer I encountered at Local 180 last night.

Union Dew pours a slightly hazy orange amber color, with good head retention and lacing. On the nose, I got not a thing. Maybe there was a very slight hint of ginger, but that was it. I tried this beer after having the impressive and very aromatic "this time for sure," but even after 10 or 15 minutes, I could get not a thing on the nose. Considering that this is listed as an IPA, I was just a bit surprised. On the palate, this is a moderately sweet, malty beer, with just a hint of hoppy bitterness on the finish. However, the bitterness seems like no more then an afterthought in this beer, and is barely sufficient to balance the malt bill in this beer. Mouthfeel is fairly soft and creamy (all of the local 180 beers had a fairly similar mouthfeel), with the beer displaying a dry, slightly bitter and short finish. Drinkability is OK I suppose, but there just was't sufficient flavor in this one to keep it interesting.

Kind of puzzled as to why they keep making this beer (especially after trying some of their other, better made beers). Oh well...

Brewers Union opened their doors at the tail end of the worst hop harvest season in recent memory. With no contracts for hop delivery and scant pickings available on the spot market, they were compelled to stock up on pellets of an obscure Japanese high-alpha (14%) hop variety grown in the US called Sorachi. Though it is said to impart a lemony quality to ales, it simply obliterates this effort at an IPA.

The bittering in this ale is excessive and convoluted, with a defining yeast property competing for hop flavor. Hop aroma is absent in favor of bread dough, making its overall demeanor hard to distinguish as an IPA. Union Dew is warm amber color and less clear than Brewers Union's other beers. It is challenging to contemplate let alone drink.