Fistful Of Hops (Winter 2014 Release)
Sun King Brewing Company

Just took the last of these bad boys out the fridge.. Still taste great in July :)

 

 

 

 

Good but loaded with cat-piss. Here goes:

A: Very swell-looking. Pours a massive head that leaves a ton of lacing - very well-carbonated throughout. Beer has a clear copper color.

S: Loaded with grassy and fruity hops. Lemon, grapefruit, and flowers. Has a cat pee smell, however, that's somewhat off-putting.

T: Tasting a lot of the cat pee that was in the smell. Still very juicy/fruity, but the kilned caramel malt really shines through. Nice malt backbone.

F: Excellent. Well carbonated.

O: Reminds me of an Osiris with a different hop profile and slightly more malt. I prefer Osiris over this beer, though.

16 FL. OZ. can
Served in a tulip

It pours deep amber, almost copper, in color. It has burnt orange highlights. A couple inches of beige head recede to a thin film leaving no lacing.

I get some stinky hops varieties. You know that cat piss one. It's in there. I smell a little citrus, too.

It started out really bitter. Once I got through the bitterness I noticed a little citrus. Then that dank, cat urine taste that makes my mouth water.

Medium mouthfeel. Not over carbonated

This is a good beer. It is not necessarily in my wheelhouse as far as hops varietals. It has strong flavor and lets you know you were drinking an IPA. This is my second Sun King beer. I definitely want to try more.

 

Very earthy and woody. Could use a serious hop kick, in my opinion. Like Osiris, it's just too even keeled. And the carbonation seems to kick just the same. This seems a variation of Osiris, and a very uninteresting one at that.

 

 

 

 

 

I try every derivation of Fistful. This one is Blue can Winter 2014, says it has Amarillo, Warrior, and Equinox hops.

A - Dark amber color. Coarse white head and good lacing.

S - Good hop fragrance with citrus, tropical, some light floral, herbal, and dank in the background. Lightest hop fragrance of any of the iterations.

T - Good flavor with the same hops from the smell. This beer has an amazing cleanliness to the hops with a very crisp and clean flavor but still enough hops to keep chugging.

M - Medium to light mouth-feel with moderate carbonation. Perfect IPA feel.

Overall, a good IPA. Not nearly as good as the other derivations but still very good. This is the cleanest and easiest drinking IPA I have had.

Glass- Imperial Nonic pint

Grapefruit and onion. More so on the onion. Not much malt at all. Basically tastes like onion juice in a can. Very hard to drink as well. Would not drink again. Sorry Sun King, this one is not good.

 

I bought 3 4-packs (red can, 4th quarter 2014) with the assumption this would rival their OUTSTANDING summer release (Orange/Yellow can). I had a couple last night and no issues with the pour, color, smell or head. What makes this more of an ordinary release is that the balance is not quite there , and the absence of the piney/resiny burst with floral notes that separates truly awesome IPA's (personal preference) . I don't know what hops they use, but I got a taste of the grapefruit bitterness but not the allure of the grapefruit taste and finish. No resiny or piney feel, that to me, is what really makes me love IPA's. It's also a little thin. The beer finishes in the front of your mouth, and lacks the finish it would need to score better. Good beer, don't get me wrong and worth more tastings, but not great. . I will try it again and see if it comes around, but this is not neary Osiris, or their summer 3rd qtr release (which is insanely good).