Night Flying
Fremont Brewing Company

 

really tasty ipa again from fremont, who, for all the styles they do well, are the best at the hoppy ones in my opinion. not sure if this is the same as day flying without the coconut or what, but its delicious, glad to have found it on tap (not nearly enough draft drinking this spring and summer with the virus happening). a little haze to this but more of an unfiltered than an intentionally hazy appearance, with a short white head and a exploding hop aroma, juicy peach and light coconut flesh, grassy greenness with no apparent bite, herbal and summery, with maybe a mango or pineapple juicy tropical element as well, a great mix of hops in here, whatever they are. what i smell i also taste, very good carryover from aroma to flavor, lots of stone and tropical fruit and lemon curd but in a very dry package, also a leafy greenness to it that tastes like the pellets just a bit, but i appreciate the forward nature of the hops and dont think it out of place here. clean on the ferment, some medium bodied cereal character to the malt, quite well refined, more bubbly than it looks, and off the charts fresh to my senses. it shows all of its average abv, but is so good that it drinks kind of light anyway, at least for me. really tasty overall, some concentrated cryo type hops running through most of it, pungent but approachable at the same time. yum!

On-tap in Boise ID, Night Flying, served in a pint glass; clear gold pour with a tightly-bubbled white head that doesn't lace all that well; exotic fruitiness and resiny hops lead off, with a dose of dankness, orange, grapefruit, citrus sweetness, and a balanced malt backbone; decent pop of bitterness with a dry finish.

Body of light gold. Mostly clear, but not quite crisp. Tight little white head that just looks clean and professional. Settles to a galaxy swirl and ring around the glass.

Nose is sweet hops right off the bat. Citrus and light sweet fruits. A good middle ground between the classic WCIPA and some of the flavour profiles of the newer hops.

Flavour seems a little bit more sensitive to age than the aroma. When I had my first can three weeks ago (so three weeks old), it was just bursting and aggressively/confidently blended and I really dug it. Now at closer to 6 weeks from canning, I still like it and it still brings an enthusiasm and blatant competency, but everything is a little more reserved and bumpy, and doesn't quite come together with the same seamlessness of its younger self. Good old school WCIPA hops are the drivers here, leaving a lingering bitter pith and pine profile. There's some fruitier hops supporting. Again, the blueprint feels like classic WC, but with some of the specifics swapped out for some of the newer flavours (more melon and berry than JUST the classic tropics of mango and pineapple, etc). I love the confidently bitter finish, even still now that it's losing some of its magnificence. It's a core principle that has seemingly been abandoned of late.

Body is medium and generally dry. Carbonation swells and settles, making it drinkable and kind of creamy.

It honestly kind of reminds me of the Siblings (Brother/Sister).

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a tulip glass.

Look- Semi clear, white fluffy head, small particulate sediment, golden, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Orange, pineapple, melon, grassy, subdued-but pleasant aroma.

Taste- Sharp grapefruit and pine, slight coconut and tangerine, harsh and unbalanced on my palate.

Feel- Between thin and medium body, dry finish, very astringent, slightly above average carbonation.

Poured from 16oz tall can into my BeerAdvocate teku. Canned 6/24/20.

Appearance: medium golden hue with a light-to-moderate haze and a good effervescence. Head is two figners of frothy ivory foam; I think it looks quite good indeed.

Smell: on the sweet side, with a rather bready malt character. There are indeed lightly tropical aromas here, and even a little bit of coconut. It's rather subtle, and quite nice.

Taste: bready malt, although also a little nutty, and mid-way between sweet and dry. Tropical flavors continue, but not in the way of a hazy IPA; I feel like these are a little harder to describe, but they definitely evoke a day at the beach. There's a bit of a bracing bitterness here; I like it, but to me this is more like a really good classic pale ale than an IPA. Still -- not bad at all.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a decent carbonation and a pretty good creaminess for the style.

Overall: this is a refreshing tipple, and one I quite like. It's not a tropical hazy juice bomb, but it's a more malt-and-bitterness forward classic example of the style.

 

16 oz. Can
PKGD: 06/24/20

Poured into a Tree House glass a pretty nice hazy golden yellow/orange color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice thick/creamy one-finger plus off-white head, which leaves some sticky lacing behind. The nose is hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, guava, pineapple, mango), pretty nice pineyness. The taste is pretty nice, hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, guava, pineapple, mango), pretty nice pineyness. Medium body, ABV is hidden very nicely, with a nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall, a pretty tasty brew.

16oz can from Hops and Bottles. Very pale golden, airy head. Resiny, piney aroma, touch of dank. Taste starts sweet, light malty notes, the hops seeping in eventually for a dry and mild bitterness. Smooth, sublime.

 

2020-06-06
32oz crowler served in a can-shaped glass. Bought it at the brewery a week ago.

Pours amber with a big head that collapses after about five minutes, leaving a sparse web of clumpy lacing and a rocky archipelago of head. Smell is piney/lemony hops.

Taste is balanced by some serious maltiness, actually -- bready, biscuity, doughy honeysuckle makes an excellent counterpoint to the lemon and pine (which is softer in the taste than in the aroma).

Mouthfeel is medium bodied or maybe a little thicker, not sticky or chewy. Overall, really nice beer.