Zephyr
North Peak Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing! Upfront I'd say pick this one up if you see it and don't hesitate. Poured from bottle to Pilsner glass. Cloudy, grapefruit juice appearance with two fingers of fluffy white head. Big juicy aromas than run the gamut: bright citrus to floral to pine to tropical juicyness. Not a lot of malt in the nose, but an amazing amount of hoppy goodness. Flavors and huge as well, mango, papaya, passion fruit, mandarin orange, pine, grapefruit, floral and herbal, bready malt, and all wrapped around a beautiful oat feel. Best North Peak ale I've had so far.

I picked up a bottle of North Peak's Zephyr Oat IPA last week for $ 2.39 at The Lager Mill. I'm in the mood for an IPA today and I'm interested to see what North Peak can do with this one, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown stubby 12oz bottle into an IPA glass.

A- The label looks nice, it's pretty standard for this brewery and it's just a little eye catching. It poured a hazy golden orange color that took on more of a golden hue when held to the light and it had a little over half a fingers worth of off wheat head that was a little creamy and a little bubbly. The head died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left some patchy lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, but I wish it had a little more head.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart a nice mixture of citrus, citrus rinds, tropical fruit. light floral hops and light green hops like aromas. Up next comes a little bit of noticeable doughy yeast that leads into the malts which are on the lighter side and they impart some pale malt, bready, grainy and sweet malt like aromas. This beer has good aroma, the hop profile is nice and juicy, but I wish the oats were noticeable.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops still being the first to show up and they impart all the same aspects that they did in the aroma with the fruity hops still sticking out the most. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast which leads into the malts which impart all the same aspects that they did in the aroma and they seem to be just as light. On the finish there's a medium amount of bitterness with a hoppy and slightly malty aftertaste. This is is a pretty nice tasting beer, I like the hop profile, but I wish the oat flavors were noticeable.

M- Smooth, a little refreshing, crisp, not overly bitter, medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is good and it works well with this beer.


Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and it's a nice example of the style, it had pretty much all the aspects that I was looking for and I like the hop profile, but I was missing some noticeable oat aspects. This beer had nice drinkability, I could drink a couple of them without getting bored of it. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma and mouthfeel, they were both good and to me they were the highlights of this beer along with the hop profile. What I liked the least about this beer is that the oat aspects weren't more noticeable, they seemed to be missing a little. I would buy this beer again when looking for a nice fruity hop IPA and I would recommend it to anyone else looking for the same. All in all I liked this beer and I thought the lack of oats just made it a little rough around the edges and it held this beer back a little. It's not a favorite North Peak beer and it;s a nice example of the style. Nice job guys, this is a tasty IPA, keep it up.

Light gold in color with a pronounced haziness within. There's an inch of thick and dense off white on top. The aroma is packed with tropical fruit and I'm also getting some citrus. I can definitely taste overripe pineapple, tangerine, and a touch of pine. The mouth is smooth and easily quaffed. Even after 3 months in the bottle this is packed with flavor.

 

 

 

 

Haven't done an actual review in awhile so I figured why the hell not.

Oat IPA. Basically means it'll be a take on the new England style. North Peak usually does a pretty good job with their beers so lets see what we get.

Look - From the titty bottle into a mason jar. Pours a murky yellow bordering on orange juice with a thick, frothy white pillowy head that lingers around. Is that hop residue floating around in the glass and lots of it? Interesting.

Smell - Big time floral notes with a juicy tropic level as expected though the floral aspects definitely dominate things here without a doubt.

Taste - Complex is a simple way to put it. Sometimes you get a heavy dosage of oats, sometimes it's more fruity and sometimes it's more pine forward though regardless of which one dominates the individual sip the pine is always there on the background.

Feel - Fairly thick bodied with a high level of carbonation and a hugh creamy factor. Swallows fruity and moderately bitter and banana like.

Overall - This is one of the better beers that I've had in a long time. Has all the makings of a West coast style ipa mixed together with a lighter new england variation. Super easy to drink. A bit pricey otherwise I'd drink this often as a go to. Try it for sure.

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 7/11/2017. Pours very hazy deep golden amber/light orange color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, pepper, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, pepper, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon/orange rind, pepper, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero lingering hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, bready/grainy/sticky, and lightly resinous balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 6.7%. Overall this is an excellent IPA. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the modestly bitter/drying finish. Tastes almost identical to Thunder on hops, and is closer to an NEIPA this time. Has way more haze, less bitterness, and a bit more body. Very intensely vibrant, dank, and piney on hops; with a nice balancing malt backbone, with no residual sweetness. Still doesn’t match the original Stormy. Too bitter to be a proper NEIPA, but still really enjoyable.