Surprise! It's Another IPA: Vic Secret & Ella
St. Boniface Craft Brewing Company

I am now clearing out some St. Boniface CANs ISO The CANQuest (tm)! The upcoming NBS is going to be quite an adventure with all of the space in the reefer.

From the CAN: "Vic Secret/Ella".

I Crack!ed open the vent on this CAN & then went with a very slow, gentle C-Line Glug. I watched in mock horror as it quickly foamed up to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, French Vanilla-colored head with excellent retention. Color was a slightly-hazy Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5). Nose smelled really citrusy, very much of grapefruit & now, my mouth was watering. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was REALLY grapefruit-citrusy, to the point that it almost tasted like I was licking rind, rather than drinking hops! Phew. Definitely NOT for the faint of heart! Me? I live for this kind of thing. At one point, early on as a hophead, I used to put hop pellets under my tongue & let them dissolve for an added hop kick. This beer was mighty close to that experience. It actually caused me to break out in a light sweat at one point, proving that I might be a little out of practice. Phew. But, OTOH, it was extremely mellow! It was like drinking hop tea, something else that I have done. Once I got past the initial bitterness, it became very smooth, making me very sleepy. I once wrote to Celestial Seasonings about a hop-infused tea, but I never heard back. This is what I imagine such a thing would be like. Finish was dry, but after that initial wash of bitterness, it became quite drinkable. Man, I may need to lay down after this … YMMV.

 

-Vic Secret and Ella hops. Served on draft @ location tulip.

A: Clear and mid-range 0range coloring showcased a lot of feverish carbonation. Big fluffy foam white head showed a great resilience. In the end it was just another ordinary appearance.

S: The nose had a light tropical sense from the Ella hops, but was hard to distinguish individual character. Some dry flowery sense, and bready malts dominate. Overall not as distinguished or defined.

T: The flavor followed the nose, bready malts, dry, almost biscuit like with some dry citrus had a moderate amount of bitterness, and flowery feeling.

M: Light bodied, light bittering, nothing special.

O: Overall decent drinker but nothing out of the ordinary. Bready malt character, the Ella and Vic hops get a bit homogenized in the process of things and lacked a crisp and defined flavor or character. Good crispness in the mouthful. In the end, yes it was just another IPA.

16 oz can poured into an imperial nonic.

Appearance
Straw blonde. Good clarity. 1 finger of loose white head. Light carbonation. Some yeast chunks float about.

Nose
Lemon-lime, blueberry, kiwi, cracker, and honey.

Taste
Lemon-lime. Slight kiwi and blueberry. Cracker and honey maltiness.

Mouthfeel
Medium-plus bodied, silky, crisp, and moderately bitter.

Overall
$4.40 for a 16 oz can seems pretty steep for the quality.

 

 

The pour is a bright golden sunshine color that has significant hop haze and a soapy white head. This looks EXACTLY like Lizard King from Pipeworks, a beer I love, so I’m stoked.

The nose is filled with spicy, exotic hops, passion fruit primarily, also some grapefruit, and a bit of pineapple. The taste is filled with those flavors, but this is also fairly bitter - approaching puckerville. But the finish is fairly dry, and there’s the slightest bit of malt to reign this back in.

A lot of flavor for a 5.1% ABV beer, this would make a nice lawnmower beer.

$ 16.16 (Including tax)/four pack of 16 oz cans ($ 0.253/oz) at Adamstown Beverage, Adamstown, PA.
Dated on bottom of can 03/15/18. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 42 degrees in a hand-washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.75.
Body – Light yellow, slight haze.
Head – Large (Maximum 6.2 cm, controlled center pour), white, very low density, good retention, slowly diminishing leaving an irregular seven to fifteen mm rocky ring and a thin broken layer which looks like ice flows from above. The second pour leaves a much smaller, denser head and, upon retraction, leaves an irregular ring of rocky lacing complete with stalactites.
Lacing – Poor. Small irregular rocky islands are left scattered about the interior surface of the glass.
First pour – Light yellow, clear.
Aroma – 3.5 - Light flowery hops, more like a weak herbal tea.
Flavor – 3.75 - Begins slightly bitter and flowery, flowery and slightly bitter in the middle, and ends bitter. The bitterness has along hang-time. There is a bit of deep background sweetness from the malt but no malt flavor. There is also no taste of alcohol, diacetyl, or dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3.75 - Light, watery, soft carbonation.
Impression and summation – 3.75 – At 5.1% ABV, this tastes and feels very much like a sessionable lawn mower beer and that’s not a bad thing. Despite the floral tones, this seems very refreshing. The price point is good.