Strictly Business
Barrier Brewing Company

 

Now that Untappd is aligned with this site & vice versa, I CAN let the cat outta the bag. I am a top user on both, but for different purposes. Here, all of my beers get thoughtfully reviewed with an attendant rating, hearkening back to the early days when the ONLY way to keep track of one's beers was to write a review. On Untappd, I almost NEVER give a beer a rating, but I check into them all, usually with a pic & a punny CANment. When Joe Sixpack interviewed me, he asked if Untappd had ChANged my drinking habits & my answer was a resounding "YES!" since I find myself chasing their Foursquare/Swarm-inspired badges. This will begin an ongoing deep dive into Barrier (& Friends) since they seem incapable of making a beer without CANlaborating with CANother brewery. Why? I am trying to close out Untappd's "Better Together" badge & further The CANQuest at the same time!

From the CAN: "New England India Pale Ale"; "Brewed with our friends Interboro Spirits & Ales"; "Illustrated by Daniel F. Birch".

Okay, I gotta say, the label art is phenomenal! It is almost worth the price of admission by itself. I am an artistic guy, although words & paper are my medium of choice, but I totally dig edgy art. This shizznit iz edgy, yo!

The Crack! of the vent unleashed some unCANtrollable foaming & since I could not determine its origin (brimful craft CAN or otherwise), I initiated Emergency Glug Procedures! This is simply me throwing all caution to the wind & allowing the CANtents to freely flow from the aluminum cylinder into the awaiting glass. Man, did this action result in the formation of some head! I wound up with nearly three fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with seemingly inexhaustible retention. Color was a deeply-hazy/lightly-cloudy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7). Nose was less melon than tropical, but I was okay with that since I also got some orange/tangerine citrus to cut the fruitiness. Mouthfeel was medium, but very soft & slick on the tongue. The taste, while imprecisely melon (think CANtaloupe & honeydew, NOT watermelon), still evinced what they were talking about. In addition to the melon ball flavors, there was also a good bit of tropical fruitiness involving the usual suspects. This led to a semi-dry to dry finish, believe it or not. I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised, especially after the way things beCAN with this one. I am now CANtemplating a visit to their establishment if/when this COVID-19 biz ends. YMMV.

 

 

A: The beer is very hazy to cloudy yellow in color. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that quickly settled down but left lots of specks of bubbles on the surface and rings of bubbles around the edges of the glass.
S: Light aromas of lime and orange zest are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has flavors of citrus zest along with notes of stone fruit and honeydew melon.
M: It feels medium-bodied and juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The aromas and flavors of citrus zest really stand out in this New England IPA. It hides any traces of alcohol very well.

Serving type: can