Mistress of Wigs
Relic Brewing Co.

 

Another tasty DIPA from Relic. Poured from a pint can into an IPA style glass. Excellent off white head with nice lacing as the beer is consumed. The body of the beer is a clear, light amber. Citrus on the nose. First sip is fruity with some malty sweetness mixed in, followed by a cleansing hop bitterness.

Can dated 12-11-18 into pint glass. Pours a slightly hazy amber with a nice off-white head. Some floaties, but that enhances rather than detracts from the visual impression. Initial impression is orange, cantaloupe, a touch of grapefruit, and light caramel malts. Medium juicy, medium bodied, medium carbonation. Finish is more of the same. Enjoyable but not particularly complex.

 

This beer is a delicious Imperial IPA with a slightly translucent haze. It's flavorful. I zone in on pineapple, oats, flowers & a kind of creamy bitterness that is subtle, but pleasing. Some nice lacing. I picked up a four pack of tallboys at the local health food store, & it is the perfect moment to crack one of these open at the end of a long day at work. Citrus tartness on the front end mixes with a floral bite on the finish. I can see why it is considered an American Imperial IPA as opposed to a New England Style IPA, for it does not have a milkshake thickness, but you can see some residue floating around in the glass. Floral on the nose. Overall this beer has a nice balance. Cheers friends!

 

 

 

16 oz can into IPA glass. Dated 12/11/18.
Look is hazy burnt orange. Smell is citrus with orange and pineapple leading thee way. Taste follows nose with some grapefruit mixed in. Feel is light to medium. Overall a very nice DIPA with a very citrus front end.

Yet another new DIPA from the extremely-prolific Relic Brewing out of Branford, CT. This one utilizes Mosaic and El Dorado hops and clocks in at a healthy 8.5% ABV. These guys have been unfortunately hit-or-miss lately with their bigger IPA releases, but I'm holding out hope that this very solid hop combo can produce a great beer. It's a pity about the inconsistency with Relic, because for a while they were just about the best underrated hoppy beer producers in New England for a while in 2017 and early 2018. Perhaps growing pains after moving to their own facility (as opposed to contract-brewing at Thomas Hooker's space)? Who knows... let's give this a try.

Pours a pretty typical hazy "NE"-ish deep golden orange color with a generous dollop of retentive bone-white foam on top. Excellent legs and solid lacing here. No complaints whatsoever! Like most recent Relic pale ales, it's not an opaque beer, but it's also not clear by any means either... sort of just intensely-cloudy and unfiltered. This is beautiful, though, honestly. Superb in every way!

The nose is an excellent expression of the combination of El Dorado and Mosaic hops, in all honesty. It has the strong pine-y dankness of Mosaic and the fruity tropical (light pineapple and mango) and citrusy (orange and white grapefruit with light tangelo) notes of El Dorado with some assisting elements of grassy and herbal stuff going on. It's actually surprisingly subtle and doesn't jump out of the glass as much as I expected it to, but it also doesn't need to. There's a very cool understated quality of Mistress of Wigs that I am a big fan of.

On the tongue, the Mistress is an enjoyable double IPA with a bold profile of candied orange and grapefruit along with some light notes of tangelo, mango and passion fruit. It's a bit grassy and vaguely "exotic" tasting with some peculiar floral and herbal elements toward the finish. Very grainy (I would guess a good amount of flaked oats are used in this recipe) with a heavy mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Solid NEIPA-like complexion, in other words. Should've bought a four-pack of this one, to be honest, but I haven't been very trusting of Relic lately. This is unfortunate, as their good beer outshines most other similar stuff, and it does so at a better price point. C'est la vie. Pick this one up!!