Sofa King Delightful
Payette Brewing

This was another beer that I picked up at Albertson's in Caldwell, Idaho last year. Never had anything from Payette before but with a name like this, why not give it a go? Yes, this was delightful but certainly not memorable as it turned out to be a typical American IPA that felt more like a Pale Ale...

The hue to this was brassy and somewhat hazy with a ton of dark, fine sediment floating in it as I poured it out of the 12 oz. can that I had here at the house. Enough head topped it off as it never fully settled, although the lacing left behind could have been thicker and more extensive. Lots of Pale Malt, tea, bread, and a hint of dank hops in the muted nose as the taste closely followed suit. Some cracker, straw, grain, and deeply dank fruit emerged on the palate once this fully warmed up. Even some spelt and grain came through once this fully warmed up as I almost needed a chaser of water to fully get this down, with the aftertaste having a buzz from the carbonation along with a mineral quality that never completely subsided.

In spite of the heavy-handed nature of this beer, it was fine to kick back with since the alcohol was low and the body more than sufficient to fill me up. With only 4.5% ABV and no date on the bottom of the can, I felt that this was good enough to go with me anywhere, anytime as it held up well over the last year. Indeed, this was so delightful in spite of it's relatively ubiquitous nature.

these guys are going all in on the sofa king thing, not my favorite line of beers but hey, at least its innovation after some serious staleness from these guys. this is the session one, light and dry and very bubbly if i am listing its positive attributes, tastes like pellets, feels thin, and is without all that much hop flavor past the vegetal side if i am being critical, i wanted a little more from this, but its about what i expected, and despite some of the inconsistent quality, sunny remains the best of these that is regularly available. nice and pale to look at, yellow and off clear with a short white head on it. the aroma is a bit green up front, a tea-like note there, then generic citrus and some apparent bitterness, very little from the grain, cleanly enough fermented from what i can tell. its slightly metallic as it warms but otherwise stays more or less neutral on the yeast side of things in the taste. definite bitterness through much of it which i dont hate in a session type, sweet orange before green grass and some pine at the end, lightly dank but without the oily resinous feel that i like to accompany it most of the time, the hopping just isnt quite dialed on this, at times underdone (aroma, finish) and at other times overdone (green, bitter). glad to see new beers from these guys, but this wont make my top handful when shopping for lighter ipa types this summer. a hard style space to stand out in right now, and this one doesnt do it.

 

Draft at Payette. Hazy yellow pour, thin, creamy white head, rings of lacing. Aroma is white bread with a trace of citrus. Taste is bready malts, lemony notes and faint stone fruit flavors. Fast finish, light bitterness.