Morph 2/23/17
Night Shift Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at Albany Ale and Oyster in Albany, NY.

This one pours a slightly hazy orange color, with a small head and lots of lacing.

The Cascade shines here, as there's lots of bitter grapefruit and fresh cut pine on the nose, some mandarin orange, and crackery malt.

This is a nice take on a more old school IPA, as Cascade and Simcoe aren't usually allowed to shine like this. It's got great crisp bite to it, like fresh cut grass and fresh cut pine, with a nice big juiciness up front, lots of grapefruit and orange. The malt character is supporting but doesn't add a ton of flavor, just a cracker/biscuit sort of flavor.

This has a great crispness to it, with a slightly lingering bitterness, and a good level of carbonation.

I think the best beers Night Shift makes are their hoppy beers, and this is a great example.

A: Hazey fruity IPA

S: piney resin, some citrus and lemon

T: slightly doughy, more American classic hop flavored With possibly cascade hops than a tropical New England IPA coming off the 2017 line. It has a good caramelized sugar base and no overbittered caramel malt base. I thought the overall hop blend here was less flavorful than other morphs I have had. The base is more cracker flavor than doughy and more spicy than fruity in the hops dept.

I really liked the 1/26/17 morph and noticed when I bought it that it had gotten good ratings. Based off of that, I did not think this was quite as good but still good. It may be a little less sweet crystal flavors and less pronounced hop characteristics but in its own character good.

 

 

 

 

On tap at the brewery.

Pours a nice murky orange.

The nose is tropical, with pineapple leading the rush.

Taste is citrusy and a little piney. Medium bitterness and a bit of a soapy note on the finish.

Mouthfeel is a bit thin and slightly oily.

Good, solid IPA. Not spectacular, but well put together.

Lime, grassy, pine and nondescript citrus zest. Very dry, cracker malt bitterness. Lower sweetness. Not exactly bursting with flavor. It's still ok, but a rare Morph miss for me.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm back on the Morph wagon and I'll continue to hop aboard with any variation that eschews galaxy, citra and mosaic (all of which don't seem to work with me). This beauty follows up the impressive OHTT version with Simcoe and takes all the smoothness, bitterness and citrus and pine characteristics and melds it with cascade, bringing with it a slight spiciness and an overall softness that surprises on the first sip. Lots of mandarin orange, melon and pine - definitely has juice-characteristics; there's a touch of fruit-acidity but it's well managed. Malt chassis is as good as ever acting as the hop-delivery vehicle. Great beer.