Shilkmake IPA
Omnipollo

 

Murky peach color with a small, foamy head. Aroma has fresh, citrusy hops, slightly dank, fresh fruits and some lactic tartness. Taste starts slightly sweet and tart, really fruity and fresh. Fruity and citrusy hops follow, just a hint of bitterness on the finish. Body is medium and smooth with soft carbonation. Really enjoyable overall. Very complex. You get fruit, hops, slightly sweet, slightly bitter, slightly tart, all components complementing each other nicely.

330 ml bottle into tulip glass, best before 11/2/2016. Pours hazy golden orange color with a 1 finger fairly dense white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, strawberry, lemon/orange peel, pine, wheat, cracker, light honey, light vanilla/cream, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/tropical/pine hops, strawberry/vanilla, and light-moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, strawberry, lemon/orange peel, pine, wheat, cracker, light honey, light vanilla/cream, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine/citrus rind bitterness and light fruit tartness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, strawberry, lemon/orange rind, pine, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Damn nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/tropical/pine hops, strawberry/vanilla, and light-moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and no astringent hop flavors after the finish. Moderate dryness from bitterness, that increases through the glass. Medium carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, crisp, sticky/resinous, and lightly creamy/grainy mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is an excellent fruited IPA. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/tropical/pine hops, strawberry/vanilla, and light-moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth and crisp to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

 

 

11.2oz bottle, cap is stamped 02.11.2016, poured into a Pipeworks snifter glass.

The beer pours a crazy turbid peach color, hues of apricot, orange and gold, really hazy with some clumpy sediment that settles to the bottom of the glass, while a big, frothy white soapy head rests, about two fingers high with good retention and beautiful lacing. The aroma is interesting, lots of fruit, berries, passionfruit, vanilla and cream, citrus peel, wildflower, a bit of cereal grains, fruity hops linger. The flavors are similar to the nose, loads of fruity hops, passion fruit, mango and citrus with some berries, wildflower, creamy with a bit of sweetness that brings out some soft grain and light bitterness. The mouthfeel is great, coating, creamy, full bodied, moderate carbonation, really soft and smooth that finishes with a lightly dry bite.

Verdict: A totally bizarre and unique IPA from Omnipollo and Tired Hands. I don't know how this got dreamed up, but in an odd way, it totally works. The fruit character is really pleasant, nicely balanced, easy to drink, and still has a touch of the hoppy IPA base to boot. Definitely makes you think while sipping.

Smell is guava, passionfruit, flowers, and sweetness from the lactose. Taste is lemon citrus, a hint of pineapple, and even a little bit of smokiness, but not a ton of strawberry. This wasn't as creamy as some of the other Omnipollo-only lactose beers, and although it was good, it didn't come together as smoothly.

A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 23rd November 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Appearance: Actually I had to pour it twice. The first pour was going fine until three quarters in, suddenly there were some big blobs of sediment which appeared quite gross really. So I waited for it to settle a bit, before pouring that into another Spiegelau IPA glass with much less but only finer sediment. It was a hazy golden yellow colour with a one finger white head with some light lacing. As a note, after re-pouring, I let the first glass settle for about 10 minutes, and there was about a one finger layer of sediment on the bottom… it was a lot.

Aroma: Strong tropical fruitiness with guava, strawberry, mango and passionfruit with a hint of citrus orange peel.

Taste: Lightly sour strawberries with some bitterness but other than that, the flavours kind of disappeared.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with medium carbonation.

Overall: I don’t know if this batch that was sent to Hong Kong went bad or what not. I am fine with hazy and cloudy beers, but not big blob sediment which just does not look good. In addition, there was even A LOT of fine sediment. Other than that, aromas actually seemed great while the taste was disappointing especially when compared to #4:21 Raspberry Smoothie IPA which was stunningly good, and the slightly lesser but still good #4:11 Wild Strawberry/Rhubarb/Vanilla Smoothie IPA.