Hop Beard
Fonta Flora Brewery

 

 

Pours an effervescent & bright gold with a thumb of ivory colored head. Unimpressive head retention & lacing

S: Bready, grassy, cakey notes once warm along with citrus

T: Follows the nose, dryness, tangerine & dryness & green melon up front. A touch of lime, cattyness as this beer warms through, white grapes, grapefruit & dryness as well. Finishes dry with lime, pomelo & bready notes

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, carbonation becomes crisper as this beer warms up

Great drinkability, straight-forward West Coast IPA, wish the nose was better. Drank so easy at the beach

16oz can. Poured out a clear, golden orange color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy lacing on the glass. It smelled of orange, grapefruit, pineapple and caramel. Nice tropical fruit taste with toasted caramel and a piney bitterness.

 

 

 

 

 

It's not only milk stouts that bring the beards to the bar, IPA does the trick even more. Laced with the coveted hops of Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo and Simcoe, Fonta Flora isn't even giving anyone else a chance.

Cloudy and golden straw, the finely silted Hop Beard releases a soft and creamy white crown with a host of tangy citrus, ripe tropical fruit and exotic herbs for a fruity and perfumy nose. As the flavors layer onto the tongue, a soft cereal character bring hints of honeysuckle, powdered sugar and fresh dough. A starburst of those hops happens quickly with the citrusy flavors of under ripened oranges, lime and white grapefruit. A more tropical character follows with mango, passionfruit, kiwi and gooseberry. Trending quickly herbal and with a spicy bitterness, the late palate is herbal with verbena, sassafras, balsa, cedar and grassy herbs.

Medium bodied and more crisp then the standard hazy ale, Hop Beard carries hints of blackcurrant and black tea into an after palate of slightly tannic and mildly alkaline hemp and hay.

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $4.99. No canned on date, but I think that this beer has made it to distribution in my area pretty recently so it should hopefully be relatively fresh.

Look: Very pale, especially for an IPA. It has a light golden color. Nice clarity and a nice steady stream of tiny bubbles are rising up the glass. There was a finger of white head upon pouring, but it receded to a very thin rim around the glass.

Smell: Nice hoppy aromas with a bit of dank, citrus, and earthiness. I also get some interesting stone fruit and tropical fruit notes, including peach, mango, and passion fruit along with the classic citrus notes of grapefruit and orange. It smells very clean and crisp. A bit of chewable vitamins and highly minerally notes as I get into it more.

Taste: Ooh, okay. This tastes much more like a West Coast IPA than it looks. It has an aggressive hoppiness, however there is some malty balance within. The beer has a nice oily mouthfeel to it that gives it a bit more body than the very pale color suggests. The beer is very clean. It has a firm bitterness and a long-lasting finish. It's very tasty and enjoyable. On the flip side, it's not very complex and there are so many other IPAs out there that are similar.

Feel: As I mentioned above, the beer gives off the impression of being very light-bodied and lacking in body. However, it has a surprising oiliness that gives it a nice body and mouthfeel. It's appropriately carbonated.

Overall: This is my first Fonta Flora beer. I think that this is pretty good, and the brewery is probably even better at some other styles. I look forward to trying some other ones soon!

Date on can unreadable but most likely from 07/24, into a wide wine glass.

Pours a darker yellow, not clear but not hazy either. Good foam, decent head retention. Aroma is pithy citrus and lots of lemon, with a little grassy note and some dankness. No pine or juniper. Flavor is odd. Loads of lemongrass and what would probably end up being soap. Bitterness evident but soft, which is interesting. Quite floral and the lemon is prominent. I can't decide if it's interesting or if I want to throw it out. I'm digging how smooth the bitterness is since it's really bitter, but that soap characteristic is killing me. Feel is good, nice and lively but smooth enough to put down.

Overall I think something went wrong here. Fonta Flora normally does well and this is not it. Not the worst but not good.

 

 

Canned in a big old tallboy crafty craft can and purchased from Beermoth in Manchester City centre, this is marked as 7%
Pours a pretty clear hazy lemon jello coloured body with okay white head
Aroma is resinous vine and hints of glucose
Flavour is lemongrass

 

 

Poured a see-through gold body with orange tint and decent head with lace down the glass. Mild aroma of skunky and oily hops with some piney dankness. Beer is light to medium bodied with a moderate juicy sweetness that is like grapefruit and then there is an earthy and oily bitterness that leads to a smooth yet grassy sweet finish.