Everlasting Gobhopper
Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse

 

 

 

Taking some cues from the childhood favorite, Willy Wonka, there's an ale that comes to life in that everlasting candy taste. But this time it's even better- it's beer! Against the Grain's impeiral IPA showcases its candied fruit flavors early but charms the tastebuds with a long linger of throat-gripping bitterness. It's just as the hop-heads would have it.

Hazy with orange and peach hues, its sturdy austere takes the shape and proportion of fruit juice. But its rich and lathery froth entices the nose with its tangy grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, apricot, mango and passionfruit while its supple, malty-sweet succulence teases the palate, redolent with candied citrus, honey and fructose.

The fruity, juicy and vibrant flavors of exotic tropical and citrus fruit all slather across the palate, rich with sherbet-like tangy sweetness. Yet as the malt sweetness slowly retreats, the hops step up to deliver more herbal and resinous character. Lemon verbena, sassafras, dried tea leaf and fresh grass clippings come to mind as the fruitiness turns to bitterness late on the palate.

The beer's medium-full texture for a big IPA trends malty-dry and resinous as the hops and alcohol work in tandem to sharpen and crispen the taste. Light acetone spice plays on the throat, warming the mouth and extending into a seemingly everlasting taste of torn pine needles.