HopStar
Knee Deep Brewing Company

Back before Knee Deep was getting C&D letters, there was this beer they questionably used the name for.

Looked amber in color, aroma had a mild cascade like citrus vibe, maybe some simcoe.

Crystal malt, heavy, came out even more bitter, caramel. Drinks hot like a double ipa. Meh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a very hoppy IPA. But the odd part about it is that it's extremely malty at the same time. The two sides come together and give a bit of an unusual drinking experience. it has the IBUs (all 75 of 'em!), but the malty tones make it kind of a weird one. It's drinkable, sure. But it doesn't really translate into any degree of brewing prowess to me. And, the price was way too high for what was delivered.

Bottle poured into a tulip glass. Beer pours a deep dark amber color, mostly clear, with two finger of foamy bubbly off white head. Head leaves a lot of lacing as it dissipates slowly to half a finger of head.

Nose is light grapefruit, herbal, and pine hops with dark caramel malt presence. Not too strong of an aroma.

Taking a sip, herbal bitterness, woody and grassy. Very bitter. A bit of caramel malt sweetness tries its best to show up mid tongue. Herbal and earthy bitterness just lingers on the tongue and back of throat after swallowing. A bit unpleasant.

Medium body, slick and oily with resinous hops. Really not my type of IPA, with the heavy bitter herbal flavor. Reminds me of Chinese medicinal teas that my parents would make me drink when younger.

A - Nice crystal-clear copper orange, decent 1" head, fades quickly and leaves a bit on the surface, seemed really fizzy when it poured, some good lacing.

S - Initial bottle sniff was awesome...strong tropical fruits, a hint of pine, and citrus zest. Once poured the smell is on the sweeter side, kind of cakey...imagine a pineapple upside down cake fresh from the oven...maybe a little bit of resiny pine...tobacco...

T - Very strange...extremely fruity...the bitterness is not nice its a bit unpleasant...tastes like tuti-fruity candy syrup...maybe they used some adjuncts in this? Sweet light caramel but not in a good way.

Overall - The smell and taste are enemies in this brew...this is more of an Amber/Red Ale than an IPA as far as the flavors are concerned.

Not an IPA I will revisit. This brew will definitely not stand up to the great many superb West Coast IPAs out there...Falls miserably short! No thanks. Try at your own risk.

Cheers!

Why does this have such a taste of sweet, stale perfume? Clear amber in the tall Stella glass. Head is pretty average but lacing along the glass gives it a decent appearance. Hops are slightly flowery and rather earthy. The general effect is pretty murky. Reminds me of flowering fruit trees that have that rank honey scent. Light bodied. Kind of a dirty aftertaste, bitter but musty.

From a 22 oz bottle purchased in San Francisco. Some of the Knee Deep beers have been pretty good. This is my least favorite so far.

 

 

 

Poured this beer into my Port Brewing pint glass.

A: Slightly fizzy head, light amber in color - not much here to look at.

S: Not picking up much scent, aside from some sweetness that smells a bit rotten.

T: The hoppiness in this beer either masks any flavor that is present, or there are very few flavors here at all. Ink, rotten apple, and hops.

O: Not a beer I'd buy again - this one was with the white label, and may have come from a bad batch.

I had tried some of Knee Deep's other offerings at a recent festival, and had enjoyed talking to the brewer, so I thought I'd give a bomber of their IPA a try.

Pours a cloudy amber copper, with a very thick sticky cream color head. Seemed overcarbonated.

Aroma is piney and slightly citrus tart hop aromas plus a strong dose of caramel malt. Also a slightly medicinal phenolic coming through, which seemed likely unintended.

Taste was similar to the aroma, big and malty, and basically unremarkable, except for an odd smokiness that may have been related to the phenolics. Earthy scorching hops in the back of the throat as well in the finish, but they aren't dominate early in each swallow. I had a hard time getting past the smoky flavor, which should not be in an IPA.

Fairly big chewy body and grainy body. A bit big for an IPA, but also a mouthfeel that I enjoy on a cold evening.

Overall, the grain bill and hop choices were fine, though on the edge of the IPA style, but the out of place smokiness ruined it for me. Probably just a bad batch, but I'll stick to other offerings from Knee Deep and for IPAs.

 

22oz bottle.

Pours clear copper with a quarter inch head of white. A partial skim coat and a few dots of lacing for the duration.

Aromatics are a blend of stale malt, wet cardboard, and old pine sap. Hints of rust and dusty spruce bark.

Medium bodied with a crispish mouthfeel.

Cardboard, old bark, math paper, and sawdust fill the palate. Medium bitterness and some stale malt follow through.

Finishes with loads of wet cardboard and oxidized malt.

This beer is in very poor shape or was just not ever very good. Tasting like a bad homebrew of about two years in the bottle.

My wife picked this up for me recently.

Appearance- dark reddish color, thin head

Smell- malt mostly, a bit of hops

Taste- way too malty, not enough hops

Mouthfeel- medium bodied

Drinkability-It doesn't taste too bad but it is bad for an IPA. Way too malty. I don't even know why they call it an IPA.