Midnight Muse
Relic Brewing Co.

Poured from a can. No date stamped but I know it's pretty fresh from my local store.

Looks a very cloudy yellow orange. A coarse white head fades to a thin layer and leaves some sudsy lace.
Smell and taste of big fruity hops, orange juice, grapefruit and peach. Slightly sweet finish with some light biscuit malts.
Nice feel, smooth and medium body, low bitterness.

Overall, a very nice NE IPA. Glad I could get some!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was excited to see this place #38 on the newest Paste Magazine DIPA blind tasting (published 10/2/17, and they placed right above a hugely-overlooked DIPA, New Holland's Hoptronix). Jim and co. always have interesting insights into the beers they end up reviewing out of the huge glut of those consumed, so scrolling by and seeing Relic place relatively highly on the list piqued my interest. Don't call me a bandwagon-jumper, though; I really loved this brewery's Silent Shroud (pale ale hopped with Citra lupulin powder) from several months back, and their recent Mage DIPA was solid as well. Let's jump right into this beauty, then, shall we?

Pours a gorgeous light/pale-ish orange color... almost has a blush-like overtone to it, actually. Spritely carbonation edges upwards from the bottom of my glass, buoying a glorious and consistent head of pure white foam. The lace this leaves is so consistent, I have to look up and over it into my glass to actually get a picture of what the surface looks like. Hazy, as expected, just like the main body of the beer. It's not a completely opaque smoothie-beer, however... just a picture-perfect unfiltered DIPA.

Nose is rife with a bouquet of blood orange and tangerine, fresh squeezed orange juice, red grapefruit, guava and light notes of passion fruit. Some light "dank" and grassy elements here, but overall, this seems like a veritable juice-bomb! Honeydew melon and peach in here as well, kind of bringing some more delicate fruit notes to the mix. No malt to speak of and only the slightest hint of the 8% ABV this is hiding.

Once again, no real malt backbone to this one, but the hop flavors they coaxed out of the Bravo/Mosaic/Triple Perle mix is out of this world! Not sure how they came up with this hop bill, but the Triple Perle feels like the star of the show, bringing out some surprising peach and melon flavors that match the dankness and light berry and tropical flavors from the Mosaic. Bravo is mostly used as a bittering hop, but I think it provides some orange zest-like notes here in the nose and on the palate that contribute to the overall profile in a positive way (i.e. not just as a generic bittering component). This comes across slightly sweet, almost like a fruit smoothie (despite not looking the part!), and finishes slightly bitter and strikingly fruity.

Feel is round and fluffy with pillowy carbonation and a smooth, oat (and/or wheat)-laden transitional element. There's hardly a misstep with the way this beer comes across on the tongue. Even the semi-sharp bitter finish comes across detailed and purposeful thanks to the attention to late- and dry-hopping procedures and, indeed, to the curiously-curated hop varietals therein. Hope to see more NE-ish IPA/DIPAs experimenting with unique hop combinations. This deserves to receive high praise... so glad I got a four-pack!

 

12oz can. Pours a hazy burnt straw color with an inch of head. Some lacing. The aroma is fruity with some melon, orange, tangerine, and lime. The taste is light and soft fruits. Melon, tangerine and orange along with biscuity malts and some floral hops at the finish. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side. Not much alcohol heat. Pretty easy drinker for a Double IPA.