East West India Style Pale Lager
Devils Backbone Brewing Company

**
04/19/2015
On tap @ NCC in Leesburg, VA. Reddish clear color, medium white head. Aroma.. Light Taste Hops grasses. Ash . Slight something fruitty... Cherry? Pretty Good"
**

Nice blend of East and West Coast styles. Seems to focus on the lighter citrus based hops. Beautiful pour, grapefruit aroma, thick, clumpy lacing. Overall taste and palate is light but robust. I like it a lot.

 

 

 

I got several ChANces to visit NORVA and DC in the past several months and with such visits comes the opportunity to hit Total Wine & More. They are very helpful to The CANQuest (TM) in that they have no CANpunction about breaking sixers. I have been anxious to see what East meets West tastes like!

From the CAN: "a bicoastal Collaboration".

I got a spritz across the fingers followed by some foaming action through the vent, so I wasted no time in CANmencing the Glug following the Crack! There was quite a bit of foaming action before I backed off and allowed it to settle into two fingers of dense, tawny, puffy head with moderate retention, Color was Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had both a minty wintergreen scent as well as a lemon zestiness. Mouthfeel was medium. How to quantify its taste? It began with a pleasant mintiness that lulled my unsuspecting tastebuds into submission before jackhammering them with a lemony zestiness that was unstoppable. The verdant hills and mountains met the sunny citrusy shores head on in this beer. Chuck Silva, head brewer at Green Flash, is originally from Virginia, so I am sure that this represented a glimpse of his persona. The lacing that began to form was quite sticky and I toyed with inviting Chuck over to do the dishes. Finish was dry, certainly, but the pine/minty hops kept it from being puckering or gasping. I spent a good deal of time on the West Coast and I like to think that my personality is likewise tempered. It would be interesting to see what would come of a Devils Backbone BC visit to San Diego. Hmmm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

16oz can, poured into a pint glass

A- pours a clear and bright golden color with a small foamy & creamy white head that retains nicely after the pour

S- floral and herbal hop aromas up front with a bready & doughy malt that gives hints of caramel & touted grain

T- hops are more pronounced on the taste with notes of fresh pine & grass, floral notes and a hit of herbal hops. Doughy malt comes out at the finish with hints of caramel/toffee, lingers of more herbal hops

M- medium body with medium spritzy carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel and a creamy-yet-crisp finish

O- a very drinkable APL that packs a good hop punch, giving lots of fresh herbal/pine notes, very good

Poured a deep and clear gold, with just a hint of orange. There is a big foamy white head that lasts for quite a while and leaves big sticky lacing. The aroma is milder, with notes a fresh bread, fruit and citrus hops. The taste is equally good, with the hops providing a nice punch on the finish from the initial sweetness of the malt. It has a thicker body but a little bit of carbonation on the finish. An interesting and tasty beer.

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 16 oz tallboy can into a Samuel Adams Perfect Pint glass. No freshness date though purchased about 8 weeks ago from Wine Warehouse (Charlottesville, VA).

A: Clear golden-light amber with prodigious 1-finger foamy white head with good retention and a nice pileup of lace around the top of the glass. (4.25)

S: A lot of grassy, herbal hoppiness in the nose, honeysuckle finished with grapefruit pith. Maltiness is light and crackery. No yeast esters or alcohol notes. (3.75)

T: Good flavor, led by grassy floral notes and finished with grapefruit citrus and piney traditional American "C" hops notes. Maltiness is not super flavorful, but more provides a surface for the hops to work off of. Light caramel and mostly cracker. Clean without yeast or alcohol notes. Moderately bitter. (4.00)

M: Has a bit of an ale feel to it with a lot of hop oils from heavy dry-hopping I imagine. Medium bodied with the coating feel of a hoppy ale. Moderate carbonation, no astringency but a mild mineral feel in the finish/aftertaste. (3.00)

O: I enjoyed this beer quite a bit and I think the hoppy aromas and flavors are hefty. The feel is a bit of a miss though, but I think it can be overlooked for the wondeful hop vehicle it it. (4.00)