Hoppin Mad
Odd Side Ales

RB transfer

 

 

 

 

A smaller sample than some, but there's a second twelve ounce can nearby. The first has been emptied into a clear pint glass. It shows itself to be an opaque orange-amber colored brew with a frothy and sticky white head. There's a sharply resinous and bitter hop aroma. The taste is mildly hoppy, which is disappointing, because the other flavors are just too sweet, cloyingly so, and yeasty. Rye often makes a nice addition to an ale, but here it just muddles things with grassy overtones. Hops do get their notice in the aftertaste. There's not much glass lacing, but the body is good. Another positive is the pleasant inclusion of a relatively high ABV. Other than being too sticky sweet and with an annoying aspect to its taste, this is OK. Yet, the rye inclusion mitigates many flaws. Still, there's no hurry to get to that second can.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours an orange amber color with a good bit of haze and a rather thick ad billowy off-white foam. The head has a fantastic level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave tons of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the brew is heavy of a sweet citrus and tropical fruit smell of tangerine and mango. Along with these smells comes a little bit of a rye smell as well as a touch of a grapefruit and pine hop. Overall, the aroma is sweet and inviting.
Taste – The taste begins with a snice sweet bready flavor with the sweetness being very strong of a tropical fruit and tangerine flavor. The tropical fruit is a mix of mango and papaya and contains a hint of banana. There is a light rye taste that is present upfront, with it getting just a touch stronger as the taste advances. Other then the sweet and grain/bread comes some hop flavors of a grapefruit and light pine nature. The hop are light upfront, hidden by the sweet, but as the taste advances the sweetness fades a touch and more of the hop comes to the tongue. With all the flavor transitions that occur throughout the taste, one is left with a sweet, but smooth and moderately hopped taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is thick and chewy with a carbonation level that is rather low. For the mix of sweet, bready, light rye, and moderate hop the feel is great and makes for a nice thick media that coats the tongue in all the rich and diverse flavors.
Overall – A very tasty brew. Not a hop powerhouse but the sweeter flavor and the feel are great for making a robust sipper. Quite enjoyable!!

Pour a very cloudy deep golden color with a thick foamy head. Head retention is good. Head retention is excellent. I definitely get the rye in the aroma with some slight citrus and piney resin. The rye overwhelms it. Creamy mouthfeel. There is a lot of rye spicines with some nice juicy citrus. Nice piney resin at the end. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. This is a different kind of beer. I like it.

 

 

A thanks to the founding father of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a hazy, burnt orange color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of tropical fruits. Taste has plenty of rye spiciness, hints of tropical fruits and grapefruit, more bitter than most NEIPA's. Feels full bodied in the mouth and overall is a quality beet.

Tasted in a Spiegelau IPA glass from a 12 fl oz can on June 29, 2019. Look is hazy light amber with a thick creamy head and lingering lacing. Feel is medium in body.

 

The CANQuest (tm) is rolling along at high speed & now, having been duly CANspired by @Jimmy_Kneecaps I am taking a walk on the Odd Side, next to Lou Reed.

From the CAN: "Rye Double N.E. Style India Pale Ale".

Rye?!? Now, yer talkin' my lingo … in spades! I Crack!ed the vent & beCAN a even-handed, steady, C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. Man, this baby just wanted to run up & fill my glass with foam like a puppy upon hearing its master come in the front door! I was happy to sit back & watch as it happened, steadily forming just over two-fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with great retention. Color was a deeply-hazy/lightly-cloudy Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). Nose had the beautifully peppery/minty spiciness that is the hallmark of a Rye Ale. Mmm.

I dislike Bourbon, Scotch can be too smoky, Irish Whisky takes me down a bad road, but Rye? All day, yo! When Rye began its resurgence, I found myself buying liquor again. I got turned onto G&Ts during my first overseas deployment in 1985, but I lost the taste after better beer came along. I always have some Vodka on hand & like George Carlin, I can remember when there was only Vodka-flavored Vodka! I now eschew the flavored Vodkas with all of the flavored Seltzers now on the market. But, I again digress.

A Rye NEIPA!?! Brilliant! Mouthfeel was medium-to-full with the slick fullness imparted by Lactose. The flavor was not marred at all by the Lactose. Usually, the beer takes on a sweetness that I CAN generally do without, regardless of style. Here, the spiciness of the Rye malt cut through & in like a hot, sharp knife. Leave it to the MichiCANders to finally put a flawed style right! I could drink this all day, yo! Of course, it might make for either a short day or a problematic one when trying to get off of the beach with my empty cooler … Finish had a cool, minty dryness that lingered well past the swallow. Mmmm.