Melon Head
406 Brewing Company

on tap at shine in bozeman, my first beer from these guys in a long time, did they move? i think they did. anyway, this is solid, done with local grain and well hopped, juicy and modern with low bitterness and ripe fruit character to the hops in both nose and taste, mango and papaya, navel orange and tangerine, even orange marmalade, indeed some cantaloupe here as the name perhaps suggests, nice profile, fresh and sturdy, not super hazy, on the edge of being a double in terms of strength, but it doesnt drink strong like that, even with some grain body, nice beer overall. orange tinted with moderate haze, kind of rust toned, still bright, sudsy white head from the tap, lots of carbonation which i kind of need in a hazy. the aroma and flavor lead with juicy summery citrus and tropical fruit, a touch sweet and a little kind of honey grain thing there adding some compatible richness, not cloying but definitely not dry either, subtle apricot, white wine, white florals, and the melon as well, not real sign of its alcohol strength, lightly spicy to me maybe a little bit too, the grain is a neat and perhaps underappreciated feature of this, light nuttiness, mid palate sweetness, a little bit floral and bready at the same time, with a bit of supportive weight, i think really nice with this hop profile, fresh as can be, and the ferment is fairly tidy, which is flattering to the hop and the grain alike. the bitterness is low in this but the hop intensity does ramp up towards the finish, mango and orange and some stone fruit to me, lightly weedy without extreme dankness or anything, would love to know what hops are used in this. its palate coating but not classically heavy, unique enough to stand out in a samey style space, a bit more grain depth than is common. tasty stuff, hope to check out their new location when i am back in the area next!