Brut IPA
Free Will Brewing Co.

 

 

Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a bright golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of pineapples, grapefruit. Taste is the same as the aroma, light lemons, fairly dry. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is enjoyable and way to easy drinking at this abv.

 

 

 

 

The look out of the can is a slightly hazy lemonade-yellow color with a white head that fell into a nice lace around the edge. Smell was citrusy and tropical: grapefruit, lemon, orange, mango, pineapple. Taste follows nose as you get alot of the same fruits. I did not pick up on any malt character. Feel is medium bodied. Not sweet, not bitter, but very crisp. A pleasantly dry finish invites another sip. Overall, this is a refreshing beer that would be great in the summer.

 

Hoppy New Beer 2019, everyone! Since this new Brut style is meant to mimic champagne, I set a couple aside for today. I was feeling it when I returned to Lancaster from PHL last night & crashed out well before our local Midnight. I did awaken to celebrate New Year's PST, but I was groggy & did not feel like opening a beer at that time. A New Year new beer for The CANQuest (tm) is the first order of the day.

From the CAN: "IBU - n/a (Deg.) P - 13.5 SRM - 2.6"; "Liquid & Friends First".

I Crack!ed open the vent, but as I did so, I was met with some intense foaming. It turned out to be a case of yet another brimful craft CAN with nowhere for the tongue to go when depressed inwards. I beCAN an inverted Glug, but the volume was too much for me & I had to back off. Additionally, it foamed mightily to form just under three fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with excellent retention, leaving loads of lacing in its wake. Color was a slightly-hazy Straw-Yellow (SRM = > 2, < 4) & this was a problem since the Style Guide says that it should be "highly attenuated". Nose smelled like pineapple! Yum! Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was very crisp, dry and tropical, very much of pineapple, especially, but with an unusual slight bitterness. It differed from a Tropical AIPA in that the fruitiness was less variegated + there was a light bitterness to it. It is a relatively new style & I will cop to having limited exbeerience with it, but I was finding it to be highly appropriate on this morn. If champagne brunch is the norm, then this was standing in nicely.

Did I mention that I am making pork & sauerkraut in a crock pot for today? It is a very traditional PA Dutch (Deutch/German) meal on New Year's Day & I have two batches going - one with simple pork shoulder (bone-in) & Sabrett (!) sauerkraut for my traditionalist uncle who will be joining me ~ 1400 & a second with baby carrots to help reduce some of the acidity plus hot dogs which are alternatives for people not necessarily enamored of pork. I like pork, but I also love hot dogs with Sabrett sauerkraut. It smells wonderful as I drink this beer CANtemplatively.

Its finish was quite dry, not Geueze dry, but certainly dry enough to meet the standards for the style. I plan to drink and review another in the style shortly, so perhaps now I will have a base of information from which to speak.

L - 2-finger offwhite head atop a translucent yellow body.

S - mild orange, grapefruit, pine, lemon, herb. Traditional.

T - follows the nose. Such a smooth middle and dry finish. Low bitterness. Low sweetness. Low booziness.

F - medium-light body with average carb.

O - I’m enjoying this, but still don’t understand the appeal of the style :-/

 

 

Feels like a cream IPA, good hop presence but the infusion of champagne accounts for the cream aspect and produces a beer that I could drink one of only once in a while. Not bad just gimmicky.