Song Of Myself
Enlightenment Ales

 

 

 

Poured from an un-numbered batch bottle from Saugus Kappy's.
First beer I've tried from this brewery and I will be going back. Strong fruity nose with a cloudy orange pour. Taste backs it up, with just a slight dry/bitter aftertaste. I drank this one rather quick, but I did notice even more complexity apparent as it warmed up a bit. Can't wait to try again.

 

Tap at Prezo in Milford.

Pours a nice creamy 1 finger head that sticks around for a while, decent notched lacing, semi hazy honey orange colored.

Nose fresh hops, floral citrus and zesty, little grapefruit, hint of resin, nice general citrus and grassy notes. Hard to get a lot from a pint glass filled to the brim. It hints at nice tropical citrus fruit but not a ton.

Taste starts with a mild sweet malt, little caramel candy note, with fair sweetness. Then hops, quite bitter, earthy grassy notes, big citrus zest and candied orange peel, juicy though. bit of sticky resin. Juicy citrus fruit and orange peel with lingering grassy earthy hop notes on the sticky semi sweet finish. Decent malt to hop balance, but not really what I look for in an apa anymore, mostly a nice cascadian based pale that was popular 5 years ago. Where did all that citrus and tropical fruit notes from the aroma go?

Mouth is med bod, nice carb, hint if sticky resin, mild syrupy finish.

Overall ok, it hits some nice points but didn't really do it for me, too much malt heavy and not enough bright hops, a nice balanced cascade based apa, but not up to today's citrus tropical floral effervescent bold hop forward styles.

 

Pours a cloudy orange-amber color. Good starting bar-pour head but it settles quickly to rim bubbles. Ample small spots for lace.

Strong fresh grapefruit rind aroma.

Good, mildly toasty, near amber-like malt flavor on the initial sip. Strong, bitter punch starting at the swallow. Long lasting aftertaste as would be expected with the aroma and hop kick. Full bodied with a "lowish" level of carbonation. Rivals IPAs in flavor but is still wonderfully drinkable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beer's vivid amber color trends almost orange. A thin head leaves little lacing. The nose is fantastic: rustically floral with sweet grassy overtones and an organic, head-filling volatility. The taste is initially robust in its almost turnip-like stolidity--the opposite of sweet, but not bitter, either. It's slap-in-the-face refreshing, and culminates in a breathy, aromatic aftertaste that smacks of cucumber blossoms. Mouthfeel is mostly smooth. Quaffable yet sophisticated. I wish I'd bought a case.

 

The smell is by far the best feature of this beer. I wish the taste lived up to the tropical hoppiness that was wafting out of the glass. The taste was slightly muted, picked up a lot of wheat in there. Not terrible at all, but doesn't lives up to the expectations when you initially smell it. Mouthfeel was nice and light, good carbonation. Could really see myself throwing back a ton of this on a hot day. It was perfect over the weekend when the temp hit 80.