Wet Hop Willie
Country Boy Brewing

Beer at the Sierra Nevada Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild Festival in Chico, CA.

Another almost dark amber colored wet hop beer. Sometimes it works, usually it covers up the hop to some degree.

A caramel first kind of aroma, and moreso of a bittering hop kind of aroma vibe. Couldn't guess much in terms of the hop specific to this beer, or should I say hops. Mild citrus rind underneath the caramel. So we've narrowed it down to about 85% of the hops out there.

Taste, more caramel, I imagine this was a recipe where the brewer went "hey, what if we made a malty, balanced wet hopped ipa?" And rather than question the point of it, someone else said why not. If anything the mouth feel starts to take on some wood like tree notes beyond the pine needle thing we often talk about. Not really sure why you would make a fresh hop beer like this. Again, nothing bad about this beer, no off flavors, just a little bit malty and not very hoppy, which used to be the opposite of what almost every other fresh hop beer used to be.

 

 

Pours a brownish orange with a white head. Aroma is toasty (light and thin) bsicuit with some caramel, floral and a little grassy Flavor offers some of the light and thin biscuit and caramel but some orange citrus comes through in the flavor that was not there in the aroma, with the florals, and grass as well. A crisp, lighter mouthfeel. Overall, a solid wet hop APA here.I can't help but compare it to Deschutes Hop Trip and this one does pale significantly in comparison to it. This one is decent and worth my purchase but not great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's with a balanced attack and slight emphasis on rusticity, that Country Boy celebrates these Kentucky-grown hops in pale ale form.

The typical pale ale appearance is delivered as the medium amber, copper stained hue plays on the visuals. Medium carbonation releases a thin sheet of foam to cap the beer and dispurse the pungent aromatics of malt and hops. Light retention yields interspersed pockets along the glass.

Hops strike first with the raw pungency of fresh hops- grass, herb, leaf, and stems all capture the scent of muddled hops. Highly fragrant with the plant matter that easily reminds the nose of wet hemp. The dank scent is complemented by soft caramel notes and hearty whole grain bread.

Caramel leads off the taste,but is short lived and the dry grain flavor takes command in nearly a spicy rye taste. But shortly into the taste, the beer becomes hop-centric with the taste of grapefruit rind, pine cone, fresh cut grass, muddled herbs, incense, and an overall earthy bark-like taste. The flavors conclude with the same malt/hop balance that started it all, but in a very crisp, dry and refreshing taste.

Medium-light in texture, the fleeting malt and carbonation provides a dry grainy base from which the hops spring onto the palate. Bitterness meets grassy astringency as the beer closes with focuse on an extended bitter aftertaste.

Highly refreshing, the beer is meant for high rate of consumption and in quick order. But despite the beer's dissapearing act, I wanted more focus on hops. The beer really wants to be an IPA when it grows up.