Cloudbusting #3
Grimm Artisanal Ales

 

 

Medium-gold body, slightly hazed, coupla fingers of white foam and lace trails down the side... Big tropical fruit, dark and fleshy, wrapped quickly in resinous pine bitterness. Solid body, little bit of chew; tongue-gripping bitterness... Features Rakau, Kohatu, and Wakatu hops from NZ... 8% abv... canned 7/12/16; brewed at Beltway Brewing in Sterling, VA.

Actually consumed 7/21/16, but my review was originally (mistakenly) appended to the 2015 release of Cloudbusting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L - bright golden color, slight haze, head fades but leaves lots of lacing

S - somewhat subdued citrus and pineapple, malt, and a slight grassiness

T - fruitier than expected (grapefruit, white grape), bitterness and sweetness well balanced

F - medium to light bodied

O - not my personal favorite grimm dipa, but excellent in its own right

 

 

A pint can with no visible date recently received from a generous BA poured in a Weyerbacher tulip for the review.

Look- Pours a pale yellow/straw color with a generous two fingers of beautiful creamy white foam. It settles leaving a pattern of intricate lacing behind.

Smell- Heavy malt, grapefruit and a hint of orange zest.

Taste- Grapefruit, floral notes and some orange zest. A very hearty dose of malt follows.

Feel- Thick, slick, malty and quite easy to drink for 8%.

Overall- A beautiful beer to look at, but a little too much malt for me and not enough hop flavor. With no date on the can, I'm not certain if age may be a factor? Lack of dating is still a problem with craft beer that needs to be addressed. That aside, it's still a very good beer, but lacks the juicy hop flavor which would take it to the next level.

 

 

 

Traded for this a few weeks ago in the Other Half line as I wasn't able to find this anywhere in New York City. This had a "canned on" date of 7/12 that was partially obscured by the dark and lovely label that was the best that I've ever seen on a Grimm Ale! While not as outstanding as other offerings that I've had from them recently, this was not your typical "hop bomb" and had a different hop and juice profile that made it stand out from the others that were overly hoppy or "meals in a can".

This had a good pour to it as the hue was a hazy gold with lots of soft head that stuck around for the duration of my session. A good amount of rings were left as the lacing was thick and soapy in spots. Lots of blue and boysenberry in the nose with even more in the taste. Very little citrus here and the tropical fruits took a back seat as well. Melon rind and New Zealand hops were the backbone of this beer but not overtly strong as the berry juice took center stage here. Slightly dank and resinous, the mouthfeel was medium-bodied and there wasn't a lot of carbonation here as this had a slightly heavy feel to it with a slight amount of candied sugar in the aftertaste. Cut grass could be felt throughout as this tasted quite fresh!

A good amount of alcohol was here but there wasn't much of it to be detected and the warming effect was slight when I finished this off. Not Grimm's best beer with this was a solid offering that any of their fans would be wise to seek out. It's a solid beer that has juice without the citric bitterness, overpowering dankness, and hop burn found in so many other northeastern IPA's. An underlying feel of grape tied everything together here as there was so much fruit to be found from start to finish. Just as dark and mysterious as the image on the can!