Escape Hatch
Grimm Artisanal Ales

**
09/14/24

On tap , Blue Monkey.

Pineapple, grass, citrus, sharp bite .

Super tasty.

**

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $5.99. Canned on 06/21/2024, so this beer is just over nine weeks old.

Look: Fairly hazy but not completely opaque or turbid. Nice orangey/apricot colored with a rocky, soapy two finger head that eventually crumbled to a frothy thin white layer. Looks nice.

Smell: Nice citrus notes along with some green and white grape notes. Up front, lots of orange zest and some juice, followed by green grass, some tropical mango/pineapple/melon/white grape fruit salad. Papaya and a bit of dankness also. Peppery on the finish with green bell pepper notes.

Taste: Interesting. This is not quite what I was expecting. The beer has a solid double IPA bite with a nice, balanced bitterness to complement the juicy citrus notes up front. However, for an 8% DIPA, the beer is surprisingly thin and lacking in complexity. I'm getting more complex citrus notes on the taste than the nose including grapefruit and blood orange. However, there's something missing here and it's hard for me to pinpoint it. The finish is somewhat dry with lots of grapefruit and blood orange zest and pith. Maybe what's getting me is that this beer is trying to live in two worlds and it's hard to do that and not make me feel a bit confused. It's trying to be light and juicy up front and also dry and bitter on the finish and it does accomplish that, but it just seems a bit weird to me and hard for my brain and tastebuds to process with this particular beer.

Feel: Soft and fluffy. Lighter side of medium bodied. A bit thin for the style.

Overall: This beer has hops that I love, including Nelson and Citra...however, I have mixed feelings when brewers attempt to make hazy Nelson IPAs. I much prefer the more West Coast-style Nelson IPAs. This one is not a complete miss, it just falls a bit short for me. It has good flavors, it's just not the ideal flavor profile for me. Even though it wasn't my favorite, I had no problem drinking it pretty quickly so I suppose that is a good sign.

From the can:
Celebrating 6 years in Brooklyn

 

No obvious date on the can but this was a recent Grimm release, so likely quite fresh. From the Grimm website: “Hazy DIPA with Nelson, Citra, Nectaron, and Mosaic! It’s not a Grimm Anniversary weekend without a KILLER double NEIPA! The aroma is massive, showing a balance of citrus, ripe tropical fruit, and the indescribable New Zealand spice that we love. Ultra clean and saturated hop intensity on the palate: the sip starts with mango and lemon and evolves into a sticky and dank kaleidoscope of hop resin.” Delicious!