Norm's Simcoe-Nicity
Griffin Claw Brewing Company

picked up a four pack 16oz cans from the brewery on 7/29/18. poured heavily into my sierra Nevada spiegelau ipa glass.

Appearance- a transparent straw color with a nice frothy head that's the slightest bit of an off white. leaves a nice amount of lacing.

Aroma- oranges with a hint of a bready malt. slight tangerine and a tiny bit of pine. pretty nice.

Taste- like the aroma but the malt is more pronounced. bitterness is there but nothing crazy for an ipa fan. alcohol is well hidden. also get a slight caramel wheat action coming from the malts.

Mouthfeel- solid medium bodied. good carbonation.

Drinkability- shoulda grabbed more of this while i was there!!!


Overall- this is hand's down the best beer from griffin claw i've ever had. as a hophead i find all their ipa's more on the malt side or "balanced" some like to say. if this came out in april it definitely calmed the hops down and let the malt mellow things out. i feel like this beer is prolly better aged so slightly for the malt and hops to mingle. either way it's solid. to me this seems like a more malt depth version of controversi-ale from shorts.

 

16 ounce can into tulip glass; no can dating, but is a recent release. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy medium golden amber color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, light pepper, pine, toasted bread, light honey/caramel, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and moderate bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, light pepper, pine, toasted bread, light honey/caramel, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, pepper, pine, toasted bread, light honey/caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and moderate bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance, and zero lingering hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/sticky, and slightly resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 7.2%. Overall this is an awesome IPA! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and moderate bready malt flavors; extremely smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish, never aggressive. Wonderful Simcoe hop showcase. Perfectly balanced juicy and dank hop complexity; nice bready malt backbone, but not overly sweet/heavy. A really enjoyable offering. Loved the hop profile as expected.