Fountain Of Paradise
Modern Times Beer

 

Pours a vibrant orange color, entirely hazed and a small, yet stable white head.

The aromas are bursting from the can the moment its cracked open. They intensify the beer’s fruity color impression by smelling of papaya, passion fruit and lemon pulp in an intense, sorbet like fashion. Additional chunks of ripe oranges add to the luscious fruitiness of the nose, adding a nice complexity to the smell.

Has a soft, lighter mouthfeel, light on the carbonation, easy drinking for a iipa.

Tastes of sweet and fruity mango, oranges and an early lemony hop bite, producing a pleasant, lasting bitterness. Develops a light note of toffee malts, together with a surprising note of bakers chocolate, which gets coated up by the exotic fruits. Turns a little drier during the finish with more malts cutting through, developing more sweetness at the same time with the exotic fruits maintaining till the end.

Nice and likeable throughout, with a nice fruity and hoppy interplay with its mouthfeel being just a bit too light.

 

 

 

Tasted in a Rastal Teku from a one pint can on May 4, 2018. Look is hazy. Smell and taste is juicy, fruity and piney with a hint of bitter citrus. Feel is creamy and smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

Straight pour from a 16oz can to a tall, narrow pint (Green Cheek nucleated flute). According to a black ink canning date on the underside of the can, this was canned on April 14, 2018. That would make this beer just under four weeks old at the time of consumption. I would’ve liked to get to this sooner, but I didn’t get to drink it until almost two and a half weeks after the initial pick up for this online release, which in turn was over a week after the initial canning run so … I drank it as fresh as I reasonably could.

Appearance (4.5): This pours out three solid fingers of custard-colored foam, capping a pale tan, very hazy body with deep yellow and light orange undertones. The head dies down slowly, leaving a pock marked cap of foam on the body’s surface and scattered clumps of chunky foam laced together with thin, delicate legs. Gorgeous.

Smell (4.5): Bright, sunny notes of navel orange pith, mango flesh, a touch of passionfruit, mixed berry jam, and some limeade come out of the glass, boosted by a grain/malt bill showing rolled oats, baking soda biscuits, and southern white bread. As it opens up a bit, some slightly musky papaya flesh and herbal/resinous dank notes come out, adding another dimension to the nose. It’s got an excellent array of aromas and is nicely fragrant.

Taste (4.5): Hoooo boy—okay, this is straight up joose. A slick blend of mixed berries, navel orange flesh, and ripe mango cascades over the palate, chased by a quick, light, clean bitterness couched in red grapefruit juice. A subtle layer of dank, evergreen resin crops up on the back half of the drink, drying it out a bit without sacrificing the juicy slickness. Meanwhle, the grain/malt bill comes through with baking soda biscuits, angel food cake, and underbaked white bread. No sign of booze, somehow. As the beer opens up, the resinous bitterness comes forward a bit, balancing the smooth, tropical nectar up front, but it remains juicy as hell. And again, no booze.

Mouthfeel (5.0): This comes in with a smooth, velvety carbonation that distributes itself evenly to deposit a micro-scale tingle, accentuating the dank bitterness. The body, meanwhile, feels thoroughly medium-weight and brilliantly slick (not quite syrupy, even a little). It’s just so, so smooth. And, as noted above, no booze. HOW AT 8.5% ABV DID THEY DO THIS? It finishes just dry enough to invite the next sip (and the next, and the next) eagerly. This is probably too easy to drink for a DIPA. Outstanding.

Overall (4.5): Last night I drank Quickly Open in Portland, and was blown away. Tonight I drank Fountain of Paradise, and was blown away. This is smooth, juicy, fragrant, oozing tropical fruit, just dank and bitter enough to keep it balanced, and holy shit is this easy to drink. Honestly, I’m so tickled by how easy and satisfying this is to drink, despite being a (D)IPA weighing in at 8.5% ABV. I am thoroughly impressed, and can’t get enough. Very highly recommended.