Intronaut
Tired Hands Brewing Company

Pint can - dated 09/15/2020 - poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass at 42°F.

Pours a fully hazy marigold yellow, topped with three fingers of dense foamy off-white head - excellent retention, and leaving significant lacing behind.

Nose: Big bright tropical fruit aromas, with notes of passionfruit, pineapple, lychee, guava, coconut, horned melon, a touch of orange and lemon, and a thin thread of green, herbal, grassiness. A bit subdued, but very balanced and pleasant.

Mouthfeel/Body: Crisp, medium-light in body - light in weight, but that New England-style softness gives a bit of body. Effervescence is moderate, with very fine bubbles. Right where it should be. The beer is nicely dry, with zero stickiness or malt weight to get in the way, allowing for a refreshing, easy-to-drink APA. Some resinous hoppy dryness in the finish.

Palate: The beer greets the palate on the dry side, as a pale ale should, with some pale, flakey grainy malt. This dryness is a nice touch for Tired Hands. The hops are bright and tropical, bursting with notes of pineapple, orange, guava, passionfruit, lychee, a touch of mango, white grape, and peach, with some grapefruit pith peeking through on the back end. That Riwaka grassy green note emerges, with just a hint of allium, coming together in a pithy, grassy, herbal finish with a kiss of bitterness.

Overall: This is a fantastic pale ale. In the same vein as Hop Hands, except with a dominant New Zealand raw green character, and a tropical, almost "POG" style overtone. Superb drinkability, very balanced, and cohesive, and somehow totally fresh even after two months. Underappreciated.

Pours a matte orange color - hazy and opaque. Nice thick four finger white head collapses slowly but steadily leaving a thin layer of foam on top of the beer with lots of sticky white lacing.

Aroma has beautiful bright fruity notes - orange, mango, and tropical fruits. Upon closer inspection there is a dank, herbal, green aroma underneath the fruity notes.

Taste follows the nose with some bright fruity notes - orange, mango, and tropical fruit notes with a slight sweet creaminess to it. Quickly gives way to a grassy, somewhat dank flavor with some dried hay. Moderate bitterness becomes a bit more pronounced on the back end as the beer warms. The malt backbone is a underlying supportive flavor, but it is there - comes across with some pale malts.

Feel is light to medium bodied. Smooth and creamy with a nice vibrant carbonation. Bitterness produces a semi dry presentation on the finish.

Overall another lovely IPA from Tired Hands - they really do have a knack for producing excellent IPAs.

 

16 oz can, dated 9/15/20, poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden straw with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, grapefruit, some pineapple and tropical fruits, herbal, a little dank, touch of pale malts, piney.

T- Citrus, some pineapple, grapefruit, pale malts, piney, a little earthy.

M- Smooth, fairly soft, light body.

O- An excellent pale ale, great hop combination that still lets the malts give it a nice balance.