Flashcards
Crux Fermentation Project

12 oz. can from a 6 pack purchased from Roth's West Salem Market.
$9.99
Pours a light clear golden colour with a nice and consistent frothy white head.
Aroma is estery/yeasty..slightly Belgian style..some hints of juicy lemon drop hops..pleasant.
Taste is very nice some Belgian aspects and some juicy grape lemon hops..tasty..and not to sweet.
Mouth feel is nice and with a semi dry finish.
Nice "White" IPA..style that is rare nowadays

 

12oz can

Pours about two fingers of fizzy white head into my Boston Lager glass. Despite the fizzing, the retention is actually pretty good. Initial lacing looks nice as well. Body is a very light golden yellow. Surprisingly crystal clear, with a load of bubbles coming up. Looks good, not very “white” though.

Clove and citrus are the two main things hitting my nose. Not specifically orange peel, I’m probably picking up more of the citra hops. Semi sweet malts, perfume as well. Smells pretty nice, I would say it leans a little harder on the Belgian yeast than the hops, which is not uncommon for the style. But it’s decently balanced, and not overly ester forward.

Flavor is very nice and full, hitting with a few flavors coming and going. Certainly a good amount of clove and other esters, but at least the hops pop in just a touch more than on the nose, if only just in a bittering fashion. Pretty floral/perfumey in the finish. Not a whole lot in the way of citrus. As far as flavor is concerned, this is basically a Belgian golden ale, decently hopped, with early additions. Not getting a lot of wit characteristics, more so generic esters, but I’m fine with that – it’s a solid Belgian beer.

Mouthfeel is pretty good. Dries my mouth out real quick, but has some estery sweetness that is tricking my brain into thinking it’s sweeter than it is. Carbonation is a little below medium, this glass is relatively nucleating. Body is on the thinner side. Bitterness hits in the finish and is more pronounces than your average Belgian beer.

Drinkability is pretty high. Tasty and not really any speedbumps.

The appearance turned out quite nice. Lacing was thick all the way down.

Overall this is a tasty straight forward Belgian beer, with a lot of esters, a dash of bitterness, and overall pretty clean. Stylistically though, kinda all over the place – the esters are clove, perhaps even banana, not much coriander or orange to speak of. Pretty little hop flavor coming through. And the appearance is clear. Almost none of that says witbier or IPA to me, except maybe the clove? It’s good, so I’ll give it a break, but I can’t say they achieved the beer they’re marketing.

they call this a white ipa, which was hot a few years back but seems to have died as a style. i listed this as a belgian ipa, as thats really closest to what it is of the given options here probably. its really a combination of a very modern dry hoppy juicy american ipa and a belgian white, with some wheat in the mash and an appreciable spicy ester profile to the yeast, summery and light overall though, real drinkable and very well executed like pretty much all the hoppy stuff is from these guys. not quite as hazy as expected from the tap, a big belgian smelling nose combining with a sturdy new school dry hop, notes of melon and pineapple, white pepper and green banana, taffy and cotton candy, lemon and lime, a touch sweet but a lot going on. the wheat is pretty light in the malt base, and this has a real minimal body for what it is, i thought it might be a little more beefy and fluffed up, but it feels almost like a pils, lots of carbonation though keeping it summery and refreshing. neat hop profile, maybe southern hemisphere focused, its white winey too me, and its real compatible with this yeast. i thought this was awesome, and it made me nostalgic for the days when everyone was making one of these. kind of a blast from the past at this point, as modern as the beer tastes, i really liked it, and have been high on crux of late...