Don't Microwave It, Don't Boil It (Boysenberry)
Hoof Hearted Brewing

 

 

1 PINT can
Served in an oversized, stemless wine glass

This beer pours like beet juice. It has a deep purplish red hue with similarly colored couple inches of head that leaves spotty lacing.

It initially smells like butterscotch. As it warms I get tart raspberry jelly.

The taste is tart with the lemon coming through. I get tart raspberry, really a lot of berry flavor.

Medium bodied with a slightly dry mouthfeel

I really enjoy the taste, but that butterscotch smell throws me.

 

This can was the Don’t Microwave It Don’t Boil It Sour IPA with boysenberry, lemon, vanilla and milk sugar. It pours purple color and smells of wheat and earthy notes like wet leaves with dark fruit blended into the mix. Flavor is very fruity with grapes, boysenberry, lemon, dark fruits, white wine, floral hops, mild tart fruits and tea leaf and other earthy notes. Complex and smoother than expected for a sour IPA, this is very tasty beer overall.

 

A thickly syrupy ribbon of deep purple-magenta pours into the glass, filling to full opacity and leaving only a minimal pastel violet ring of carbonation around the rim.

Smell is weird, almost exclusively exhibiting buttery pie crust, with a touch of IHOP boysenberry syrup.

Taste is more tart and varied, thankfully, bringing notes of Spree, Pixy Stix, berry syrup and a slightly sticky mix of pies like rhubarb and lemon meringue. But there's still that buttery note which I'm not sure is diacetyl or just a lack of execution on the sour IPA sub-style with the vanilla.

The feel is quite smooth and almost savory at times, with a light carbonation and semi-dry finish.

Was gifted this by a coworker. Pint can poured into a tulip at 46F. Canned 10/02/18

Pours a deep, opaque blueberry juice burgundy. Bright pink fizzy 2 finger head recedes to a soapy top. Reminds me of viles of blood at the hospital, as they begin to coagulate. Lets a fair amount of light in. Absolutely stunning.

Nose is a curveball of juicy tropical hops, a spritz of citrus, and Hoof Hearted's signature of heavy-handed lactose. The lactose and boysenberry hints reminds me of a New York cheesecake with berry swirls. The nose is pretty mellow, though.

Palate is a whirlwind of tart berries, lemon juice, sweet lactose, and juicy hoppiness. The hoppiness that is more indicitive of a sludgy NEDIPA. I definitely get the fruity hops, but they're more of a building block than the foundation. A featured guest. The lactose is nowhere near as heavy as the nose suggests. A nice little addition. And it's definitely tart. It's labeled as a sour IPA, and that it is. Restrained, lactic tartness. Imagine a heavily hopped boysenberry kettle sour with lactose. This was a BRAVE move, with so much going on, and I think they pulled it off well. A lot of flavor.

Mouthfeel is medium, but spritzy. More of a kettle sour mouthfeel than that of an IPA. Very very fine, soft carbonation. Not low carbonation at all, there's plenty - it's a fine carbonation. The lactose lends a softness to the overall feel.

Overall - some purists will bitch and moan that this is not a real IPA. Screw em. I'm drinking it now, and it tastes and feels pretty real. Sure, it's definitely unorthodox. It's a novelty IPA. And I have nothing wrong with that. If the shoe fits, wear it. If the beer's good, enjoy it.
I thought this was an awesome take on a sour IPA, and just what I needed right now to keep things fresh and interesting. Will I buy it? Absolutely. Would I trade for it? Depends. HHB makes some neat stuff. This is no exception. Very tasty.