Hop Test #1 (Snipa Claussenii)
Al's of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing

 

Pour is deep amber with a thinner white head. Nose is heavily citrus and candied sugar, very sweet. Taste is even more citrus, less candied sugar, not really sugary but does get fairly sweet. Very simple, low carb, syrupy feel.

 

 

L: Glowing orange with minimal head. Nice look.

S: Smells like an old IIPA. Little Brett C presence, and a lot of the saccharine orange candy notes I get from an undated IIPA.

M: Similar to the nose: syrupy sweetness with hints of orange and stone fruits. Brett is barely perceptible, but there's a hint of it amidst the overbearing maltiness of it all. Can't really perceive the 12% ABV, for what it's worth.

F: Viscous though not without carbonation. If this were slightly drier, I might be very impressed; as it is, it only buttresses the overbearing sweetness.

O: The rare beer that I drainpour, this beer went back with the server glass half-full. An interesting idea, but ultimately unbalanced: the bitterness having faded and the yeast imperceptible, there was little to this beyond sticky maltiness and the orange notes of a once-bright IIPA. I believe Brett C gives up around 12%, too, so more aging won't help this particular batch. I might be interested in seeing how a similar beer with lower ABV would develop over time.

 

 

Got a crowler of this at the brewery. Shared it with 5 others last night. It was a drain pour for all of us.

 

 

 

Solid! Al and Terry have done it again. Blew my taste buds away! Loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from an almost 3 wk old growler, well filled and tightly capped. Nice bright 3 finger tight white head, outstanding lacing. Smells of all kinds of tropical and citrus fruit w mild funk. Super tropical fruit fruit flavor from hops and yeast with moderate funk. Quite bright in the mouth. Very easy drinking for 12%, just downed a growler, gonna hate myself In the morning, maybe.

 

 

 

Served on-tap at Al's of Hampden. A three year old, Brett dosed, wild IPA. Pours mostly clear copper orange with a half finger fall white head, quickly dissipating down to a light ring around the edge, leaving small streaks of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smells of musty brett, dulled citric fruit, bit of grass, bready grains and some mild booze. Taste is pretty much the same with the brett funk up front being joined by the dulled hops, grain and mild booze burn. Flavors work pretty well together, you would never know this is nearly three years old now. Slick, malty feel with some lingering barnyard funk and a light booze burn.

Overall a decent farmhouse wild IPA. Not a lot of IPA left in there but the rest fills in most of the gaps. Worth a try if you are into these hybrid styles.