Double Dry-Hopped Harry Doesn’t Mind
SingleCut Beersmiths

Cloudy golden color. Big, white head. Citrus and other tropical fruits in the aroma, with a hint of oats. Juicy taste with moderate, smooth bitterness..

 

 

 

I spent New Beer Sunday (Week 724) in a CANcerted effort to drink, review and rate a buncha SingleCut CANned beers in the furtherance of The CANQuest (tm). Sadly, my backlog was greater than the time allotted & I was cut short before my intended finish line. I am now picking up where I left off over the course of the coming week. Viva The CANQuest (tm)!

From the CAN: "Rulpsen says: 'Come visit our brewery!"; "SingleCut Beersmiths is proud to maintain the American tradition of beer locally made from craft by zealots/lunatics who believe hard work, truth, pride and passion should always come before profit."; "IIPA"; "120 IBU".

I am becoming more & more inured to being visually disappointed following a Crack! of a CAN from these guys. I get that filtration may not be their bag, but when EVERY beer is as cloudy as western PA during the winter, you are losing me. J/S. I went with another C-Line Glug which led to the formation of just over a finger of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with very good retention, leaving behind nice lacing as it slowly fell. Color was a … CLOUDY Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5). 8={} It's okay in this case, but generally, not so much. Nose was very fruity, an admixture of citrus, stone fruit & tropical fruits in a new & different overlay/underlay/Van deLay. Grapefruit, peach, pineapple, mango, apricot, guava, even a touch of blueberry with a very bready, yeasty base. Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, nit quite creamy, but still big in the mouth & on the tongue. Man, it was like a fruit fight riot in my mouth! Jeebus! How CAN you expect me to parse out all of the variegated flavors when all of them are seeking dominance?!? I think that the champion was grapefruit simply because everything else just lacked the lasting Ooomph! to knock it out of the way. It began in a very tropical way with a light undertone of blueberry, but slowly, the citrusiness just built to an overwhelming crescendo. Finish was dry, believe that! Phew! Okay! You've got my attention now, you boys!

 

 

Straight pour from a 16oz can an oversized, flared wineglass—Hill Farmstead’s classic globe. A nearly perfect glass that, frankly, I don’t use enough. This has a canning date of December 12, 2018 printed in black ink on the underside of the can (“CANNED ON 12/12/18 12:23:06 RECALCULATING”), indicating that this can is … twelve days old at the time of consumption. Still very fresh (and fully chilled).

Appearance (4.25): Two solid fingers of cream-colored foam cap a very hazy, bordering on murky orange-tan body, dying down at a moderate pace, leaving very little lacing, at first. With a second pour at a warmer temperature, the edges of the head dissolves into a nearly unbroken, wide collar of thin foam all around the glass. The lacing is effectively one wide collar with a few voids of clear glass scattered about.

Smell (4.75): A juicy bouquet of passionfruit nectar, underripe kiwi, a touch of gooseberry, and finishing notes of honeydew and raspberry wafts out of the glass. As it warms slightly, bright notes of pink grapefruit flesh come out, blending with a nose like Marlborough sauvignon blanc, with its light booze, brassy gooseberry and funky passionfruit notes. Light toffee, floury, undecorated sugar cookie, and brown butter icing offer some weight and depth underneath it all.

Taste (4.5): On the palate, the beer comes across brighter and more electric than the nose’s juicy, drippy, tropical and vinous character. Pungent pink grapefruit blends with a dank cannabis note, evoking a terp-heavy strain. Light honeydew and white grape flesh offer a mellower, modestly sweeter backdrop for the mélange of citrus rind, ganja, and a broader palette of juicy tropical notes that call to mind musky papaya flesh, passionfruit funk, a light floral note, and tart limeade. The malt/grain bill brings out roughly the same characteristics noted in the aroma: floury sugar cookies, a little bit of boule crust, and uncooked hot cereal mix. I dig it. No sign of booze whatsoever. A somewhat blurry fruitiness that you can’t quite pin down, suggesting muted Fruity Pebbles, maybe, belies the estery yeast presence, but it meshes well with the rest of the beer. This really opens up and melds together well as it warms, still betraying no sign of the 8.0% ABV content.

Mouthfeel (4.5): Smooth and velvety, the body feels slightly on the full-side of medium-weight, properly viscous but not thick or syrupy, lightened up a bit by a thin layer of fine-grained carbonation that tingles, just ever so slightly. It feels rich and juicy, finishing surprisingly dry thanks to that pungent mix of citrus oil and cannabis resin, and augmented by that fine layer of bubbles. Not surprisingly, this is way too drinkable for 8.0% ABV.

Overall (4.25): I’m sensing a trend with Singlecut’s New England/Northeastern-style (D)IPAs. They’re rich, hazy juice bombs, sure, but they’re also buoyed by enough bitterness to keep them eminently drinkable, without sacrificing variety and depth on the palate. Where they excel beyond so many of the others is the lack of hop burn or agitating yeast slurry, as well as a clearly well-integrated blend of juicy hops and a well-formed backdrop of yeast esters. Put simply, this is yet another piece of evidence that Singlecut’s mastered a a very popular style, most brewers of which haven’t figured out how to coax out all of the nuances that make it so interesting (when done right) and smooth over the rough spots that are sometimes too easy to overlook. Highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drank from a one pint can purchased at Fort Point Market, Boston, MA
6/5/18
Served in a tulip

The cloudy, yellow ochre body was topped by a frothy, near finger-tall, bone white crown that fell to a thin collar. Some odd shaped patches of lacing stuck along the glass.

The aroma was fruity and bright. Melon notes were most apparent. Big citrus presence too. Lots of juicy tangerine and orange. Some peach as well. Subtle tropical fruitiness. Hint of mango. As the beer sat, the peach and mango notes intensified.

The flavor was definitely more citrus forward. Tangy tangerine notes dominated. Lots of juicy orange flesh and some orange rind as well. Bit of mango and peach in the center. Good dose of lemon and wheatiness too. Touch of sweetness. Grapefruit came through on the back end and carried into the finish. Notes of pithy grapefruit rind were also apparent. Fairly bitter. With time, the tropical fruits and the overall sweetness intensified and the bitterness decreased.

Outstanding fluffy mouthfeel. Pillowy soft and supple. Medium-light for the style. The liquid contained a super fine, zippy effervescence that turned ultra frothy on the palate.

Double Dry-Hopped Harry Doesn’t Mind is yet another very solid DIPA by the folks at SingleCut. While this beer may lack any notable distinction from their other offerings (and from hazy IPAs in general), it was quite enjoyable nonetheless.