The 281
No Label Brewing Company

 

Pours a very cloudy golden yellow color with a finger width foamy head. Head retention is decent as is the lacing. Has a tropical passion fruit aroma. Juicy Passion fruit on the taste. Grassy bitterness at the end. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

I had this beer on-tap at the brewery in Katy in a tall, narrow glass.

Appearance:  hazy medium orange hue with a thin layer of ivory foam. It certainly looks the part.

Smell:  slightly tangy, juicy, passionfruit-mango type hop aroma.  I like it, but there’s something just a little sharp in the hop character that I don’t love.

Taste:  moderately sweet with a nice malt base, and the same tropical elements as the aroma. It has that same sharpness, though, which really does pull something away for me. Honestly it’s the same weird character I noted in so many IPAs I had in Hungary — I wonder what the specific cause is? On further review I like this beer enough to make up for the bit of sharpness, but it would be so much better without it!

Mouthfeel:  medium body with a good level of carbonation and creaminess.

Overall:  the texture and juiciness of this beer do a lot to make up for that hop thing I’m not such a fan of. That being said, this is probably not gonna be my top choice.