Merlin’s Mist
Exile Brewing Co.

Citrusy, slightly dry finish

There isn't a whole lot not to like about this one. Poured cold from a 12-ounce bottle into a tulip glass. Translucent pale yellow in color, with a one-finger white head that left some sticky lacing as it settled. Big aromas and flavors of orange, lemon, pine, and tropical fruit dominate the profile. Light to medium in body, with low bitterness and a light malt presence. Finish is quite dry, with a lingering note of orange zest on the palate. This is an interesting take on the style, with a little more zesty bitterness than some others. That said, this is an exceptional beer, deliciously drinkable and excellent with food.

an east coast style ipa and a pretty good one, juicy and heavily dry hopped to be sure, but still with some nice finishing bitterness, more of an ipa than a lot of them out there right now, at least for my palate, i liked this one quite a lot. on tap at their brewery, a unique space with a good beer selection, it sits heavy and cloudy in the glass, pale and frothy, looks the part. the nose is awesome, white grape and peach right away for me, a little pineapple, nelson sauvin hops i would think, along with a more familiar mosaic sort of complexion, brightly dosed and very fresh, with the fruitiness just brimming. the flavor is right there with the nose, some soft juicy citra type, lemon and clementine, a little oily but not overly rich, i could drink a bunch of these. the haziness doesnt make this one heavy which is nice, and its dry and well carbonated in the feel, accentuated by the hop layers coming one by one at the end, white wine notes for sure, excellent mix of hop varietals here, creamy feeling, summery somehow, just really well done and one of my favorites from our visit to exile! well ahead of the curve in this style...

 

 

Aroma is pine, grapefruit and almost lemon/pinesol. The flavor is tropical fruit, grapefruit, malts, spicy hops and a mildly sweet/fruit/slightly sour finish.