Ascension
The Tap Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

I picked up this bottle when I was up at the Nerzx industry event last Friday. 22 oz bottle was poured into a Stella glass

Appearance: A hazy golden yellow with a one finger head that reduced to a thin layer. Tiny little bubbles are slightly noticeable. Some nice lacing on the glass too.

Smell: bready grains and malt, some sweet honey, yeasty aromas, and hints of apple and bear.

Taste: Bready, sweet honey, apples, pears, spiciness from the hops is very strog compared to everything else going on. Some bitterness towards the end too.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, slightly chewy, medium to high carbonation. I had no problems drinking this beer too.

Overall: This is a decent BIPA that might need a little more maltiness to balance off the hops overload. Still enjoyable though and will be drinking more in the future.

 

This beer pours a light golden straw color with a huge off white head with fairly good retention. There is anniversary lasingmleft on the glass as the head recedes. The smell is lightly hoppy with earthy hops and a good dose of Belgian yeast notes as well as a bread scent to it. The flavor is again earthy hops witha sweet smooth Belgian flavor and ammild bitterness. The beer is rich and medium bodied with high carbonation. The beer is smooth and very drinkable. I will be drinking more Of this at the pub in the near future.

Thanks to DrDogBeer for this
A: Pours a hazy golden color, little bit of carbonation, no real head to speak of
S: Spicy nose. Big dose of yeast in there. some malt odors as well.
T: Big peppery taste up front. followed by a bready sweetness. There is a herbal finish with hints of mint. the hop flavors continue throughout.
M: ok. nothing really to note
D: pretty descent all in all

Ascension from Haverhill...right in the backyard.

A-Looks alright. Light orange color. Nice head.

S-Not overly hoppy. Smells yeasty which is expected. Unique smell but I didn't love it.

T-I much prefer American IPAs, specifically West Coast IPAs. This beer confirms my preferences. The beer is quite complex yet not exceptionally satisfying. Pretty bitter and spicy. Just not my flavor of choice.

M-Well carbonated with the standard medium body.

D-I wouldn't ask for more than one of these. But worth a try.

Appearance: The beer was a gusher, but pours a cloudy amber with a two finger head that has some stickage going on and leaves a few shards of lace

Smell: Rather malty aroma, with bread and candi sugar, up front, and some grassy hops on the back

Taste: Bready, sweet and grassy, which makes for a rough marriage, particularly as some herbal elements kick in at mid-palate; the finish is sweeter than expected, as well

Mouthfeel: Medium body with high carbonation

Drinkability: All over the place and more like a tripel than a Belgian IPA

Reviewed from my notes. Somehow Novare Res was able to get a keg of this...I took a few notes to record my impressions.

The beer is opaque orange. There is a small white head of tiny bubbles.

It has a sweet, candi sugar aroma. It's refreshingly crisp with a nice hint of malt sweetness.

The beer tastes sweet, not too strongly; it's at a good level. The bitterness makes an appearance in the finish. It's acidic and fruity.

It's body is on the lighter side of medium while the carbonation is slightly higher than average. There wasn't much coating left in my mouth.

It's drinkability is above average but not amazing. There were a few flavors that would be hard to intake repeatedly over the course of an evening, but this one glass is quite enjoyable.

A few days ago I really enjoyed haverhill's joshua norton. Tonight I'm trying ascension.

Pouring the 22oz into a tulip glass. Pours a rich straw gold with a bubbly finger head. A fine looking brew indeed.

Wow, a great nose on this thing. Noble hops and yeast are my first impressions. I'm catching wiffs of dark, ripe fruit, perhaps some green apples. Also a sort of creamy vanilla in there. Slightly citric, predominantly herbal hop aroma. A hint of bubblegum.

First taste reveals a strong hop bitterness, with a fruity sweet note, and a fascinating aftertase that flashes between a cracker-like bready malt, citric hops, and sweet belgian-yeast inspired flavors. More drinking reveals a strong malt backbone in this beer, delicious. Hoppiness is not quite as herbal as I was expecting, there is distinct grapefruit and pinyness to it, but certainly the overall impression is of the noble saaz. The bottle had me expecting a spicy IPA, which this is really not. Any peppery notes the belgian yeast imparts are balanced nicely by the noble hops and the result is that there is no "stand out" belgian spice flavor, instead everything is quite clean and well-integrated. There is definitely a hint of sweet bubblegum, but again the malt is surprisingly assertive and overrides the sweetness from becoming too noticeable. The finish, which I initially described as a crackery malt, might actually be a combination of tastes accentuated by the belgian yeast. It reminds me of those black pepper crackers.
Alcohol is pretty subtle, but is noticeable on the finish and leaves a nice warmth on the palate.

Feels great on the tongue. Moderate carbonation balances what might otherwise be a slightly viscous brew.

Very drinkable. Things are really well balanced here, unusually so. This is one of those beers that presents you with a huge bouquet of flavors, but it's hard to identify each one individually as they are all so subtle and well-balanced that they play off each other and create one cohesive whole. At 7.3%, it's not a exactly huge beer, and it goes down so easily I'll have no problem finishing this bomber and wouldn't hesitate to crack another. Will definitely be having this again.

A: Pours a very deep amber orange with a nice finger of head that turns into a nice thin ring and sheet across the top of the brew. Decent if average lacing.

S: Extremely malty and sour, with a slight yeasty and biscuity scent in the nose. There's also a nice amount of cream and malts. Biscuity and yeasty sweet notes.

Taste: incredibly sugary and honey taste. Very nice, crisp, and simple, green apples blending very nicely with the honey.

M: very smooth, nice, and crisp, actually feels like crisp apples, very persistent tiny bubbles.

D: Quite drinkable.

Poured from a 22oz bomber into a tulip glass.

The first time I had this brew was on tap at the Tap in Haverhill, MA. I was so bummed to find out it was a limitd release, and I looked all over for it. Finally, months later; I stumbled across two bottle of it at Marty's in Needham, MA. So of course I picked them both up.

I am writing this review several days after having both bottles with a good buddy of mine (who happened to be the guy with me when I first discovered this beer) so I am going to refrain from a normal review.

Simply put, this is the best Belgian IPA I have found so far, and believe me; I have been looking at others. I am really hoping the brewers at Haverhil Brewing Co decide to brew this one at least seasonally.

Can't remember for the life of me who sent this to me but I finally cracked it the other night. From my notes:

A- Pours a nice semi-hazy golden orange color. Two finger slight off white head dies down in a minute leaving nice lacing rings on the sides of the glass.

S- The nose is a little muted I think but this could be from it being bottled a few months ago (6 I think). There is a light floral aroma from the hops along with a distinct Belgian biscuty yeast smell. Nothing really else I could pick up.

T- This is a bit more hoppy than what I first expected with the taste. Nice light floral and bitter hops crash into the palate followed by a good Belgian yeasty taste. Not too much in this maybe some light sweet malts in the middle of the beer.

M- This was a medium mouthfeel. Perfect carbonation levels for me. Almost creamy mouthfeel on the palate. Clean IPA/Belgian taste in this along with the aftertaste. Couldn't have been more happy with this.

D- This is very drinkable. I think the bomber was gone before I even knew it. Sadly, I don't have any more.

This has a bit more ascending to do for my taste. Nice cloudy amber color with a noisy, bubbly head that, while not very dense, lasted a surprisingly long time. There's a soapy aroma that's evident from several inches away, and it overpowers whatever other smells might be available-- is that apple? A little orange? Can't tell. Same with the taste: there's a hint of fruit and some yeasty malt, all overpowered by soap. Alcohol is also very strong, which gives a sour mushroom flavor. Also one of the more gassy (as opposed to fizzy) beers I've had in a long while. Gas, soap, booze and mushrooms. Next!

Bright kumquat orange with crystalline clarity... on the first pour and all subsequent pours. Atop the beer sits three fingers of alabaster colored foam that has a quality texture, even if it isn't exactly Belgianesque. Delicate sheets of stippled lace look fine and dandy too.

The nose isn't quite hoppy enough for the style. This ale was bottled exactly 5 months ago (April 20th), so the Saaz hops should still be impressively aromatic... assuming they were to begin with. Other ingredients include French malts and Belgian yeast. There isn't much Belgian yeastiness either.

Thankfully, Ascension Belgian Style India Pale Ale tastes hoppier than it smells. I don't know about 'massive amounts', as the brewery claims, but there's easily enough for the IPA designation. I would have picked something other than Saaz, but that's me. A more estery yeast strain would have helped as well.

Flavors include sugary pale malts, bitter grasses, snappy apples and pears, a miniscule hint of bubblegum and a surprising amount of white pepper pepperiness. The alpha acid load is still considerable, with an estimated IBU count of at least 50. Hopheads will enjoy a wee bit of tongue abuse. Don't wait much longer to drink it if you're hanging onto a bomber.

Although my first several mouthfuls had a solid 3.5 for flavor in their crosshairs, I'm now thinking 4.0. Solid malt support and a generous amount of hops (no matter what variety) get me every time. This stuff would be killer with something like Simcoe. Hey, Saaz aren't Belgian either.

The mouthfeel holds up its end with ease. It's loaded with luscious creaminess and has a sparkly sort of carbonation that matches the peppery and hoppy bite of the flavor profile perfectly.

Even though I'd make a few changes, Haverhill Ascension is a delicious take on the Belgian IPA style. As Leatherlips IPA proves, these guys are no strangers to hoppy beer. Due to a lack of access, I'll probably never drink it again, but those who can... should. Thanks again damienblack.

Slightly hazed, light amber with a thin cap of off-white bubbles that quickly settled to a collar. Sugary aroma, some honey, bready, with a continental floral hop character that faded into something closer to mild citrus. A little fruitiness appeared as it warmed. Bitterness was on the low side, but had a pleasant citrus character. Bready malt with a hint of spice and orange zest, fairly sweet and a little peppery in the finish. Light, lingering bitterness. Mild alcohol warmth. Medium bodied with soft carbonation. Pretty good overall, but the bitterness was just a bit too low for my tastes.

Another new one for me to try this afternoon. I am a big fan of their regular offerings, so was hoping to continue the trend. Served cold and poured into a pint glass, this one was consumed on 09/07/2009.



Very nice pour, light golden amber in color with a big head of white on top. Took forever to settle down though and the first few pours were on the foamy side I have to say. Aside from that though, nice side glass lacing and a rich look to it overall had me going in for another look. Light aroma, mild hops with a hint of bready notes to it right under the surface. This peeled back into light peach and banana hints the more it warms and a touch of light grain. Flavor was again interesting, bready and grainy at first with hints of lemon and orange sprinkled in. Warming seems to really mellow the hops completely and allow almost a spicy tone to take hold. Interesting. Decent carbonation and a light feel led to it being refreshing and not too heavy on a warm day.



Overall not bad. Not what I was really expecting at all, but I have to admit again, not bad. I would have no issue with trying it again. Very interesting style here and a good effort for sure.

Stopped in yesterday (27FEB10) to The Tap with Alewife and Caitlin and had a 12oz glass of this on tap. Was a cloudy, medium golden/copper color. Head was white and thin, mostly at the edges, but lacing was superb. Nose had hopping present, and candyish notes - definitely a Belgian. Medium bodied, it was nice and smooth on the tongue. Flavor had lots of sharp hop bitterness, with the Saaz biting well. It's quite rindy, and there seems to be a hint of mint in there. Finish is a bit peppery, though the hops stick on the palate for a good amount of time. Much better vom Faß than a bottle! Prosit!!

4
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

*** *** ***

08SEP09 - Picked up a 22oz bomber about a week ago, and enjoyed it this past Sunday (06Sep) while outside laxing on a warm, late summer day... Label has ingredient descriptions, but no freshness info.

Poured into a snifter, the bier is a touch cloudy, and deep copper in color. Head is off-white, quite creamy, and with fine bubbles creating a little bit of lace. The nose has a touch of toasty malts, with hops being sharp and pungent. Intriguing so far. Body was a middle of the range medium, and the liquid was fairly smooth, overall.

Flavor has some light malt sweetness at the outset. Soon thereafter a lot of rindy, pithy hop characteristics come into play, though it's odd that Saaz hops are bringing this forth. There is present the distinct Saaz spicy bite, though, which lingers long and hard on the palate. Some fruitiness is also in the mix, in the guise of pear and apple. A decent offering, yet nothing earth-shattering here.

Prosit!

3.75
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 3.5

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