Loose Ends
Boneyard Beer Company

 

12oz can from Tavour. Clear golden, small foamy head, active carbonation. Grainy, biscuity aroma. Taste is more malty, grainy flavors, light sweet notes with a pronounced bitter, dry finish.

2021-06-29
12oz can served in a tulip. Dated 11/16/2020. Served in a tulip. This is the third can I've opened, and every one of them has foamed over when cracked.

Pours moderately hazy yellow with a big coarse white head and plenty of ongoing carbonation. Smell is lemon, lager funk, maybe a little bit of the "old hops" aroma (musty / old hay).

Taste is lemon, yeasty/breadiness, moderate lemon zest bitterness and a little bit of a lemonade sweetness, less of the yeast funk and less of the "old hops" but both still present.

Mouthfeel is mediumish, maybe a little lighter. Overall, it's a pretty decent beer, giving it the benefit of the doubt for being older than I expect would best showcase the beer.

Clear yellow brew with abundant foam in the Stella Artois goblet. Pleasing frothy mouthfeel with a lively tang on the tongue. Lush and mouth filling. Aroma of citrus and a hint of apricot. Seeds and stems in the aftertaste, more astringent than bitter.

Tangy and fruity but milder than an IPA. Flavor is marred slightly by a touch of the "old fruit" flavor. But overall it is quite quaffable and a style I wish to see more of. From the 12 oz can purchased at Whidbey Beer Works. Dated 11/23/20, so I would still like to try a fresh one.

 

Unfiltered light golden body. Grapefruit, spicy tropical fruit, slight caramel sweetness, a bit spicy. Fairly hoppy, as befitting the style. Medium lighter bodied, good carbonation, mild-moderate herbal and grapefruit zest on the finish.

 

Look: Clear pale yellow with a fast-forming pure white head that slowly settles to a lid, leaving good lacing on the glass
Aroma: Sweet orange, white table grapes, gooseberries, pomelo, wafts of strawberry, and some honey-kissed biscuit-like malt
Taste: Pomelo (basically sweet grapefruit), grapes, and orange jump out onto the palate first and followed by waves of berries that after appearing, mix into the fruity fold. Malt, while present, is clearly in the background and I also get a rose-like floral punch that wasn’t detectable in the nose for me
Mouthfeel: Full, extremely clean and crisp throughout, medium-high carbonation, and ends with a very light hop bite that precedes the crisp and clean finish
Overall: This is tasty stuff. As a fan of the odd hybrid IPL style, when I heard two brewers who know and do their hoppy stuff well were making one, I had to try it and glad I did as it was a joy for this lager fan and hophead. A very delicious and interesting hop bill too and I swear those Nelson hops give me Gewurtzraminer grape/wine notes almost every time I have a beer with them in it. Hoppy, light and refreshing, flavorful, and not a huge hop bite either which I thought was a plus for this particular beer style as it would take somewhat from the clean/crisp lager aspect if overdone. Recommended

 

 

12oz can purchased at Community Pint, in Spokane, Washington, for $2.99. The stamp on the bottom of the can indicates it was canned on November 16th, 2020. It also, for reasons unknown, is stamped "Kim" in the same place. Incidentally, this one is 6.5% abv.

Poured into my Iron Goat 7th Anniversary glass (no idea what the style of glass is called), this was a golden amber color, with a decent off-white head that dropped somewhat quickly but never quite went away. Spotty, streaky lace.

Mellow, crackery maltiness, and a soft, floral, spicy hoppiness. Smells a bit like a pilsener, but with a more New World hop profile.

Like in the nose, this is a lightly malty tasting beer. The hops (Citrus, Sultana and Nelson Sauvin) are providing a kind of soft, floral, spicy accompaniment rather than featuring as the stars of the show. The finish is slightly dry but clean finishing.

Light bodied, with a crisp, clean mouthfeel.

Not a bad IPL at all. If I encountered this at a bar (I'm not sure I remember how that even works) I could see myself having several. I'm not family with Cloudburst, as they are not distributed in this part of Washington, but I'm familiar enough with Boneyard that I'm actually a little surprised it's not more aggressively hopped. In this case, I think less has proved to be more.

It's nice to see more experimentation being done with lager yeast, especially when it's a collaborative effort like this one between Boneyard (very familiar) and Cloudburst (not at all familiar). Loose Ends has a telltale, lager dryness in the finish that I hoped for, and like very much. It consequently didn't need as much hop bitterness to balance the sweetness from the Anheuser-Busch-like malts that are barely perceptible, almost completely drowned out by the power of the hops. Though the bitterness isn't over-the-top on the strike, it lingers on the tongue as though coated by an oil. This isn't necessarily unpleasant, and not unlike many IPAs. The mouth-feel is sturdy without being heavy or syrupy. The drinkability-factor is fine; I'm happy to have another after the first. Since I gave "Look" the highest mark, I will comment that it is as I would expect an IPL to look: clear, diluted honey-yellow, but not too pale. The look foretells the other characteristics well. I like this beer. I don't know that I'll buy another 6, and since it's a limited release, I doubt another 6 will be there when I re-up anyway. I feel there's more left undiscovered with lager brewing than with ale, over all, and I hope to see more experiments like this from all brewers, whether solo or collaboratively like this one. In summary, Loose Ends IPL hits above average marks in many ways, though not far above.

12oz can (dated 11/23/20) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a clean, clear bright gold color with 2/3 inch of white head that low-moderate retention and no lacing.

Citrus hops on the front of the nose, with a touch of pine, and just a hint of grain in the background.

Similar on the tongue, with the hops being notably brighter.

The body was light and crisp, with a semi-dry finish.

Drinkability was good, the can was easily quaffed.

Overall, a solid brew. Maybe the style ain't quite my jam, but it's still nice. Worth a shot if you see it.

Collab with Cloudburst. On tap at Chill N Fill, Portland, OR, who claim this is 7.0% abv. 6.3 or 7.0, I couldn't care less...

Looks exactly as it should. Bright gold, perfectly clean and clear, foamy white head with decent lace.

This...this right here, is my dream summer beer. To summarize, it's easy. Weed, pine, biscuits, clean, crisp, bitter, smooth, light, fresh, and at 7.0%, a bang for your buck.

Thanks again Boneyard, for consistently brewing beers that I want to drink. Cheers!