A Long Winter Haze
Community Beer Company

tallboy dated 12/14/20; this was poured on 4/12; "frosty the bro-man" it sez

pours a solid hazed mellow rustic yellow that fades thru the spectrum on the way to amber as it goes inward; a small timid fizzy foam head appears, peaks at not even half a finger and lingers with no place to really go (let it snow?) for a moderately high retention rate (yet, again, with nowhere to really go) before slowly dissipating to a murky cap and small rocky halo, leaving an impressively high amount of lacing behind as the sips take away the tide, so-to-speak.

the aroma is an interesting balance between literal orange juice (pulpy at that), heavy whipping cream (not the sweetened stuff) and berries; sure, it's exactly as advertised on the tin, but it was still kinda shocking. it's all got a tilt on those notes that I'm not quite used to...which I am chalking up to the Lotus hop - one I am not too familiar with but according to what I looked up later sounds like this to a "T"

taste follows up, but dialed up a lot more. it's also a lot less focused - possibly for the better. it's thick and juicy and grassy and slightly earthy. it's not straightforward creamsicle, it's a little more rugged. it's pithy, maybe even pulpy, and the berries add another layer of funk. and it is "berries" - it isn't like, say, Mosaic blueberry...it's a medley. raspberry, strawberry, blueberry; then there's tangerine, lime, a slight nod towards mango, and peach. and grapefruit. then, back to the cream...it's not really a sweet cream going on, but it also doesn't suggest your usual "lactose" additive. the malt is muted and subtle but adds a pleasant brown sugar topping fleshy grapefruit effect. oh, and there's also a slight but weirdly welcomed pine kick to it.

mouthfeel is mid-level carbonation and body, juicy and pithy and grainy at times with a semi-dry finish and a grapefruit bittersweet aftertaste with a slight piney tinge to it

overall:
wow. this one shirked off averageness with just a few tweaks that made for an interesting NEIPA with a slight nod to the OG IPAs coming out of Cal. The Lotus hop is used to a great effect which was a pleasure to experience - I will be looking out for this addition from here on out, as it was super interesting and brought another layer of complication to the brew that could have easily just stalled at "OJ NEIPA" and maybe the slight pine nod would have landed differently - more blandly perhaps. but in this case, it was another turn towards solid, subtle greatness.

 

Pours a very cloudy, opaque golden yellow color with a thick foamy head. Head retention is mild. Lacing is good. Nice juicy tangerine aroma. Bomb on the taste. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. This is an excellent NEIPA!