Wolf Among Weeds
Golden Road Brewing

It seems we have a wolf among weeds, a git amongst the pigeons, three bob short of a ten quid note, a turd in the hamper*, etc... So yeah, pop-culture reference out of the way yet another American Double IPA to win me over with a bag of hops and a humulus lupulus grin on its vast green face. Boy am I not getting tired of hoppy beers [no, really I love them!] however my point of reference in this sea of hops is making it difficult for me to bring to mind the best DIPAs from the masses. Lucky then I keep detailed notes and scores on almost every beer I drink, yay.

Poured from a 473ml can into a Duvel tulip.

A: Cloudy pale jonquil body with a 2 cm white head that soon dies down leaving some impressive lace on the side of the glass, good head proteins there. 9/10.

S: Sweet pineapple, piney, citric notes on the nose. There is a touch of a herbal cannabis note in the background as well - Wolf Among The Weed may have been as appropriate a name as its current appellation. The aroma is quite juicy and moreish, however it could benefit from a tad more complexity, but I’m splitting hairs here - it’s still pretty damn good. 8/10.

T: Quite grassy and herbal towards the front, mixes in some light tropical and juicy fruit chewing gum mid-palate, and finish is a medium herbal bitterness. It’s all very restrained given the style and the 8% ABV, I could see myself knocking back a few of these cans. Flavour hints at some dry-hop torpedo action, in fact it reminds me a little of Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo Hunter (aka my mixing of SN’s Torpedo IPA and Hop Hunter). Tasty drop this! 9/10.

M: Medium bodied, hop oiliness abounds, with a light and dense carbonation. 8/10.

D: Would. Buy. Again. Another thing I noticed while drinking it was a spicy ginger touch in the aftertaste, this is a DIPA that manages to swim to the surface in the sea of hops and make itself known, and that is a tall order when it comes to the American IPA scene - IPAs are dime a dozen these days and this one goes down a treat. Problem is getting it here in Australia, Sierra Nevada get a few of their brews down here but this Golden Road was somewhat more difficult to acquire, looks like I’ll be sticking with my Torpedo Hunters for a while yet. 9/10.

Food match: Spicy Thai/Indonesian cuisine is your best bet here.

*If you can guess this obscure sketch show reference I will actually leave a turd in your laundry hamper.

Very hazy for what is ostensibly a more traditional WC-style IPA. Aroma is wonderful, with sharp citrus, pine, and stone fruit coming together, along with moderate herbal tones.

Similar on the palate: moderate dankness, with plenty of resin and pine along with citrus and (to a lesser extent) tropical tones. Grapefruit, lemon, lime, pepper, grass, onion, mango.

Crisp and lively despite the ABV; damn near crushable and dangerous!

 

 

 

Pours a nice straw golden color. The aroma is a bit underwhelming, looks like there's not much in the way of "late hops" additions. Taste is surprisingly light given the 8% abv. There is a slight resiny - piney flavor present but nothing over the top in terms of bitterness. The overall taste is hoppy pine with some malty caramel notes. I am not sensing any citrus flavor or tropical flavor in terms of the classic West Coast style but regardless this is a solid IPA with lots of hop bitterness so anyone who loves IPA's should definitely check this one out.

Brewed 5/6/20, drank 16 days after it was incarcerated in light-proof cans to preserve the dankness. Poured into my Samuel Smith pint glass.

Look: Pours a lightly hazed yellow-gold color that shines like hidden treasure. Noticeable amounts of carbonation cling to the sides of the glass, with more steadily rising to feed the aromatic head. The haze is 100% due to dry hopping.

Smell: The aroma is very ripe and outrageous. Juicy cantaloupe, red mango, baby pineapple, Hawaiian punch, soft pine, pink grapefruit, kaffir lime, and lemon zest erupt in this incredibly juicy and intense citrusy fragrance. It genuinely stands out and is flawlessly executed. The classic hop varieties Bravo, Cascade, Chinook, and Simcoe were used to make this striking aroma. Genuinely juicy on the nose!

Taste: A heavenly blast of juicy cantaloupe, mango, pineapple, Hawaiian punch, soft pine, and pink grapefruit ends with clean crackery caramel malt for balance. The bitterness is extremely fruity and flavorful, but with just the right amount of bite that is tongue-tingling and lingering. The lingering bitterness yields flavors of dank grapefruit so much so that at times in the aftertaste, it literally tasted exactly the same as eating bitter juicy grapefruit. Completely hidden alcohol and superbly clean drinkability make this one a sneaker at 8%.

Overall: I love how they use only classic 2-Row Pale Malt to stand up to all of the hoppiness, giving a clean slate for the hop flavors to fully shine. Extremely well done! These other larger brewers out there are going to have to step up their game.

Note: On the Golden Road website it only lists 2-Row Pale Malts being used and not malted rye as this Beeradvocate post suggests. I will suggest an edit to fix this posting.

 

 

 

draught
Thin head. Light golden color. Slight floral/citrus aroma. Rather thin bodied. A bit of Darjeeling tea flavor and in finish.

 

 

 

 

Pours a mostly clear golden color with a fresh white head. Smell is dank with citrus and fruits . Taste is floral ,tropical with notes pf mango,citrus,peach and pineapple very nice. Mouth feel was hoppy with some bitterness but not so much WC style it was just a good IPA.

 

 

 

In my humble opinion one of the best ipa’s I’ve ever tasted. I only wish it still came in a 16oz. can.