Hop Oddity
Aardwolf Brewing Company

Drinking this at the Aardwolf Brewery.
Poured into a pint glass.
Appears hazy yellow.
Smells piney, citrusy and lightly bready.
Taste follows the nose. Definitely Hop forward.
Mouth feel is medium light
Overall, much like a West Coast IPA.
I would definitely order again.

 

 

Drank at Wakefest in Miami, 2019.

 

I'm trying this at the brewery. It poured a hazy yellowish with no head and no lace. The scent had strong citrus peel presence. The taste was nicely balanced and easy with bitter citrus finish. The mouthfeel is lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it's a solid beer

 

Hop Oddity #7. (There should probably be separate entries for this entire series, a la Hill Farmstead, as each iteration features a different hop and varied ABV.)

Pours a murky yellow in the glass, completely opaque.

On the nose, it's incredibly herbal and slightly dank, featuring green, vegetal spice tones.

Flavor follows on the palate (reminds me of many OffShoot beers), but an oddly earthy, dirty, even buttery second half detracts from the overall experience. Likely a characteristic of the malt, I don't think this is a diacetyl issue. Regardless, it takes what could have been a very, very excellent brew, and makes it a challenge to finish a full pour.

Excellent mouth feel, lively and medium bodied.

Reviewed from notes. This was labeled as "Hop Oddity #6" and was noted to be 7.5% ABV. Likely not worthy of a separate entry here, but a different batch than some others have reviewed previously.

Poured from a 32 oz. crowler into an El Catador Barrel-Aged glass.

A: Pours a hazy light gold with a good amount of visible carbonation. Forms a half-finger of white head with average retention.

S: Tropical fruits, melons, and cracker malts. Milder grapefruit and dank in the hops as well. A nice aroma, though not a huge nose on this.

T: Melon and grapefruit, tangerine and tropical fruits. Dank and just a touch of spicy hops. A light cracker malt body, then stays modestly bitter in hang with the grapefruit and melon flavors.

M: Low alcohol presence, good carbonation sensation. A light body overall - this batch strikes me as more of a West Coast style IPA than the description others have given for previous batches.

O: Pretty tasty. A nice balance of hop flavors, and a malt bill that I enjoy. It may not have been my personal preference for hop variety choices, but this is good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Straight pour from a 1L flip-top, amber glass growler to a 10oz stemmed tasting glass (TH stemware). This was filled yesterday at the source, and promptly went into my fridge until tonight. Freshy-fresh.

Appearance (3.5): Two fingers of custard-colored, fluffy, fat-bubbled foam rise off the pour, capping a 24 ct. gold-colored body, which is basically crystal clear. The head doesn’t stick around all that long, just leaving a thin ring around the edge of the glass. Almost no lacing to speak of throughout the drink—surprising, and disappointing, but the body and head look great—but there are a few arcing splotches here and there that dissipate eventually.

Smell (4.5): Fresh-cut papaya, light caramel and sugar cookies, beautiful floral tones, and a little tangerine sweetness characterize the most up-front parts of the hops and malt. When you dig a little deeper, there’s an earthy note, fairly resinous, fruity pot, and a slightly spicy aroma, too, backed up by a modest, but rustic, bready component. Excellent hop character, and well-built.

Taste (4.75): This is out-bloody-standing. The hop character largely follows the nose, but with a much more pronounced, spicy, weedy, resinous aspect. The fruit comes out with the same papaya flesh, mixed with sweet and tart orange marmalade, transitioning to a pink grapefruit note (flesh and a little bit of acerbic zest). There’s some malt hanging around here, too—you can tell by its weight and thickness—but it’s largely masked by the hops. Yeast rolls with brown sugar icing, a soft, light caramel note, and a common cracker kind of dryness hang out in the background. No booze to speak of. That grapefruit zest comes back in the finish, with a little bit of tart lemon curd and marmalade. Deeeeelicious.

Mouthfeel (4.0): This feels just right, in terms of weight and feel, and extremely drinkable for its size (7.8% as of last night). It’s slightly on the full-side of medium-weight, and somewhat (but pleasingly) viscous. It dries out nicely by the finish, but retains enough body to still be satisfying.

Overall (4.25): This is an excellent IPA, with excellent flavor, body, and aroma, but with a disappointing lack of lacing. Even so, because everything else about this beer is great to outstanding, I’d happily recommend this beer to any lover of hops and IPAs. And who knows, maybe it was the glass that affected it, but this is still great either way.

 

the north east ipa's have a new combatant. hazy, fruity, bitter. fruit roll up, mango, apricot, this is an awesome IPA. do not pass this up if youre in jacksonville.