Hyper Predator
Off Color Brewing

 

An avid fan, I somehow missed this member of the Predator family in earlier releases. (Or maybe it missed me, since I am low on the food chain; being a vegetarian.) Anyhow, this rendition-- just released in June 2020 -- uses a different coffee. Bought extremely fresh from their brewhouse.

So much like its family, Hyper Predator is a particularly refreshing saison to pair with summer fare.
I'd say Hyper Looks like it has 1/3 less active protein swirls than Apex Predator. Perhaps it is the coffee... which I really only detect as a Smell. The Tastes are mostly sweet (from the yeast working the malts and the honey added) but only at the end do I get a drying sensation from the spices and, possibly, the coffee. In my mouth, Hyper is both soft and cleanses the palate like a champ.

Off Color is a jewel to have one's backyard, particularly if you are a Belgo-phile like me. They are learning -- and innovating -- the Belgian tradition faster than anyone I know in the Midwest and could compete with Belgium's North American Big Boys (Ommegang and Unibroue) if Off Color ever got broader distribution. That, too, may come in time.

Nice looking beer. Clouded light orange with a big ol frothy off white head. Great retention and decent lacing.

Interesting aromas. Kind of a sweet and sour funk, a but earthy, and a light dose of coffee.

The flavor is actually quite bland. Unique enough to be interesting, but light coffee, light grain, and light musty funk.

Pretty good feel, soft and pillowy, with an assertive carbonation. Balanced with a dry finish.

Good beer overall, but nothing spectacular. Love the idea of trying something new, but coffee and farmhouse might not be the best combo.

Cheers

Poured from a bottle in Il.

Deep apricot color with little head and almost no lacing.

Aromas are on the darker side with a bit of vegetal notes coming through.

As with the aroma, the mouthfeel is on the heavier side. Not a light and refreshing farmhouse style.
Slightly thick with a bit of carbonation.

Coffee dominates the flavors but not in a brewed sense. A coffee stout might have that rich dark brewed coffee taste and aroma but as a self proclaimed coffee snob, this comes through as if you've ever eaten a roasted coffee bean. Very different but very pronounced. A bit of char from the roasted bean comes through as well.

An interesting beer to try. Hard o rate it for style vs what it really tastes like.

Pale yellow/golden body with some haze and a fizzy white head. It smells mostly like vanilla bean, like, a lot of vanilla bean, to a sickly sweet/warm intensity. There's a bit of 'beer' aromas beneath this, but it mostly smells like a young brewery going for a "fancy" flavored gimmick beer. The flavor is still mostly coffee bean, but there is a presence of actual coffee, and even what seems to be like a nice saison under that- subtly fruity, golden grains, a bit of spice. Off-dry. The body is light, entertainingly fizzy.
The coffee tasted more like vanilla, and beyond that there was too much of it, especially on the nose. The whole picture came into view upon tasting it, but I think the balance should be reconsidered. It makes for an intriguing combination, but I can't help but think that less is more here.

12 ounce bottle into a tulip glass. Enjoy by 6/18/18, had 4/9/18.

Pours a cloudy yellow, with a one inch foamy head and a good amount of foamy lacing. Active carbonation. Aromas of coffee, Belgian yeast, coriander, other spices, light malt. A little wheaty, a little funky smelling. The taste is malt, Belgian yeast, lighter coffee than the nose, wheat, spices, light vanilla. Smooth, a little creamy, well carbonated, a decent but lighter body for the style.

The coffee is a solid addition, but the base beer seems a little diminished here. Still enjoyable and worth grabbing a bottle or two at a terrific price point.

 

Off Color Hyper Predator

A: The coffee-based variant of Off Color's flagship saison Apex Predator pours a cloudy, slightly brown-tinted orange with an above average head of about two fingers. Bubbles are rather large in the head, and it dissipates rather quickly, sadly, both of which are unusual for the style. Retention is quite lackluster. Many beers with coffee in them, including this one, are made by adding cold-pressed liquid coffee directly, and this often has detrimental effects to the head and lacing; as a result, these flaws will not hurt the beer as much as in a saison with this appearance without coffee. Small alcohol legs are visible, which, at only 6.5% ABV is a bit surprising but not necessarily a flaw. It would be nice if they could figure out how to make the head retention and lacing better despite the coffee addition, because saisons have the potential to be some of the best-looking beers around. 2.5/5

A: Yeast esters and third-wave, light roast African coffee meld together seamlessly into a floral, fruity, and spicy bouquet. Juicy red raspberries, strawberries, cherry, lemon, and a veritable poupourri of floral scents tend to dominate, but classic Belgian pepper does break through here and there. Herbal qualities that can only be hops also make fleeting appearances. Faint wheat bread and dry crackers are all of the malt that shows. The coffee does contribute a little classic cocoa as well as the berry notes from above, but this is really a showcase of a very light roast Ethiopian bean (Abeba Genet) from a prominent third-wave roaster (Metric). The coffee works remarkably well with the saison, though this is not a balanced-smelling beer. 3.75/5

T: Balance is redeemed in spades in the flavor with both the hops and the classic Belgian yeast character contributing much more, fighting through the coffee to make their presence known; even the hops are more obvious and in balance here, and all this new complexity does not come at the expense of the wonderful coffee notes. Raspberry, woody blackberry, green and ripe strawberries, very lightly tart cherry, and lemon are all present once again, mostly up front as they transition to the yeast character, which brings stonefruit that becomes pear and apple before the beer begins to dry out. In this transition, cocoa and crackery malts plus a generic baking yeast seize their opportunity before yeast fully takes the reins back. Pepper, coriander, and light clove from the yeast flow effortlessly into herbal, earthy tobacco and sage hoppiness as a light bitterness brings the crackers and yeast back in for one last showing. Coffee in a saison works far better than one might expect. 4.5/5

M: The added coffee that addles the appearance impacts the mouthfeel a little, as well, with a medium-fullness that has not totally blended with a thinner, more watery, more oily aspect that is undoubtedly literally the cold-pressed coffee; the two never quite get along. Carbonation is similarly off, low, at least for the style. The feel makes some amends with a characteristically dry and lightly bitter finish. Again, as it is expected and possibly unavoidable, the coffee addition means that this score will not be as low as it could be in another similar feeling beer. 3.25/5

O: After completing the segmented analysis of this review, I took a look at the current reviews for this beer, as I always do. It strikes me as odd that people would say they do not taste the coffee, which is by far the most dominant series of flavors here. Sure, it is not classic chocolate and "coffee"-flavored coffee, but that is not what coffee is in this day and age with third-wave roasters pulling amazing flavor variety from the bean containing America's favorite drug. I can see many not liking this hybrid beer as many feel coffee only works in darker and sweeter beers, but to my palate, this is a fantastic beer that works awesomely, at least in the flavor department. It is a very unique beer and one of the truest expressions of non-generic coffee flavor in the brewing world. Pair with Glorior Belli's awesome genre-blending bayou black metal effort, "The Great Southern Darkness." 4.75/5

 

Bright golden with very low head but good soda lie carbonation. Nose is primarily funk and old salty bloomy cheese. Taste starts off earthy but with a green apple and lemon lime citrus. Flavors notes or red wood come in and linger with the lemon zest tartness. Coffee isn't detectable as coffee, but I'm sure it adds to the woody notes. Finishes wonderfully crisp and bright with lemon and just a touch of residual sweetness. This is an unusual brew. The woody notes are bizarre on such a light colored beer, but it grows on you.

 

 

If this wasn’t listed as having coffee in it and it was just a saison this would be a really really good beer.
Unfortunately it said coffee.
There is zero hint of coffee in the taste, smell, or feel.
Look is a very golden cloudy yellow.
Smell is sweet, like a perfect saison.
Taste is a perfect mix of bitter, yet smooth.
Feel is refreshing.
Overall it is excellent, my low marks are because it is advertised as a coffee saison.
If it wasn’t listed that way each mark would be at least one point higher.

I liked this one a lot. I will definitely be trying this again.

 

 

 

 

 

coffee has now permeated just about every style of beer there is out there, but this is some of the first true farmhouse saison i have seen done with it in the states, and its a pretty solid beer, although in my opinion definitely not an improvement over the original at all, and without quite enough coffee to it to really captivate me. the coffee doesnt change the color much, perhaps just a shade or so darker than we should all remember from the quite exceptional original beer. aroma features a bit of roast, some sweet almost butterscotch notes from the coffee, and then a bitterness thats musky and earthy but still subtle as far as it being derived from coffee. the taste is the same, and the changes here from the base beer seem almost potentially done by grain alone, like the coffee is so well integrated that it ceases to be coffee in that respect, or at least in the traditional coffee beer respect, its beautiful, but its mild. i almost wish for more roast and bitter and darkness to this, but i appreciate this approach an awful lot. some sweet cocoa in there too, still the wheat and the belgiany yeast i loved in the base beer, but with a new found depth that keeps pulling me back in. the coffee has a touch of acidity, but it doesnt break the body down at all, and this feels relaxed and smooth going down. a neat experiment, i would like to see it at different levels, like minimal coffee, a moderate coffee, and a full bore coffee series of this same beer. this was probably closer to the moderate, but its a neat new way to incorporate coffee into beer, and it works in this saison. cool stuff.

 

 

 

 

L) Pours a hazy dark straw or light honey color. There is a small white head with decent retention. Some lacing.

S) There is definitely some spicy funk on the nose. A bit of clove and some fresh esters makes the farmhouse nature quite apparent. Not too much coffee can be detected unfortunately.

T) Everything from the nose can be tasted in the beer. There is a mild sweetness derived from the malt, and a warming roastiness from the coffee does round out the profile nicely.

F) The beer has a medium carbonation and a creamy mouthfeel. It is a pleasure to sip.

O) Not a bad farmhouse, although I wish more coffee could be detected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz. bottle

Pours foggy hazy yellow-gold with a frothy white foam head. Smells like ripe banana, zesty orange citrus, caramel, honey, toffee, roasted coffee, toasted bready malts, peppery clove spice, with woody floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like fresh banana, zesty orange citrus, caramel, honey, toffee, roasted coffee, toasted bready malts, some peppery clove spice, with woody floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels medium-light bodied, creamy and smooth with moderate low carbonation. Overall a real nice coffee farmhouse ale.

 

 

 

 

 

February 2017 release, enjoyed that month.