Hasselhopfen
Big Dog's Draft House

i loved this one, a cool collaboration with ign hops that we were lucky enough to score on draft, probably more rightly a european or international style pale ale, as all the hops are german, some exciting and less common varietals too, tango, hallertau blanc, and calista, which are less bitter and earthen and spicy than i expect from german grown hops, this is almost delicate, its fruity, modest on the bitterness, and especially flavorful, its fresh and herbal and springy to me, has a lot of grain in support, balanced well, appropriate for a pale, and overall is quite distinctive, timeless while also being a little bit different and modern to me, loved it! pretty deep golden toned beer with good clarity and a higher than average white head on it from the tap, rising above the rim of the glass, nice looking pour. the aroma is herbal to me, tea notes and dried flowers, lime zest peeking through, grassy still, distinctively fresh, verbena and honeysuckle, pollen, and some bready german grain underneath, not much from the ferment. the flavor brings green grape, daffodil, lemongrass, white tea, and apple cider, faint clover too, mowed lawn, very fresh and verdant but also kind of soft and with restrained bitterness as this goes on. a baked whole grain heartiness to the malt, good minerality at the core of this, high attention to detail in the german tradition, and overall a pretty unique and impressive, not to mention highly drinkable, offering. cool to feature these hops, i feel like i learned something from this, its way more than just hallertau blanc, fantastic pale ale.