Amphibian Days
Proclamation Ale Company

 

 

 

 

Picked up a four-pack of this one pretty much because I wanted something to crush while planting my first-ever raised bed garden, and thought a hoppy wheat with a green can seemed pretty appropriate for such an activity. I guess this is hopped with Comet and Centennial, so let's jump right into it and view it under a more microscopic lens (as opposed to judging it based on how well it goes with gardening... which I would say it did quite an adequate job at, by the way).

The pour is kind of a typical hazy wheat beer pour, with the requisite lack of clarity, golden-orange body hue and thick dollop of bone-white foam streaking down the glass as it fades to about a solid finger after five or so minutes, leaving behind a lot of nice, sticky lace and great legs. This is about as nice of an APWA pour as I've seen any time lately, so I'm going to go ahead and say this is dope looking and give it high marks.

The nose is interesting in that the brewery's description of "watermelon rind" is SPOT. ON. This smells just like juicy watermelon with a side of cantaloupe, plus some light dank and grassy undertones with a bit of earthiness and citrus peel just below the surface. It's not an aggressively hoppy nose, honestly... it's just enough to give it a good character that sets it apart from other hoppy APWA/blonde ales from the past year or so, but it doesn't over-complicate things whatsoever. There's a little bit of bubblegum/generic fruit esters from the yeast (and, perhaps, its interaction with the wheat malt) here, as well, but it feels more like an afterthought than a main component of the nose. Still, there is something about this that just says "hey, I'm a wheat beer, not an APA," and it's probably that.

On the tongue, this has a nice fruit gum flavor with juicy grapefruit and tangerine backed up by more dense melon characteristics and grassy, herbal, nearly-spicy notes in the background (toward the finish). Each sip feels refreshing and crisp, as APWAs are wont to feel (though the body is pretty chunky), but this one definitely has a slightly-hoppier bent to it than some more generic examples of the style. That said, I'm not sure this is my favorite hop combination, but it also produces some flavors I would not have expected from such a pairing. Comet is often compared (favorably) to Citra, and Centennial is a classic floral/citrusy West Coast IPA hop... so, why does this have such a delicate, melon/spice/grassy overtone to it? Perhaps their hopping rates and schedules are tweaked to work specifically with wheat and (presumably) their house ale yeast in such a way that these elements appear more prominently? Not sure. All I know is that I enjoy this one and would reach for it again in a heartbeat.

 

Canned 05/6/2019 “Frog Sumthin”
A deliciously hopped change of pace from all the APAs and IPAs. Great notes of spice from the wheat and plenty of body. Wish I went with a 4-pack rather than a single tall can because this is damn good.