Double Dry Hopped Solar Showers
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

Poured from a pint can purchased at the DC annex. Ticks all the NEIPA boxes but is unremarkable. Smell and mouthfeel are a little muted. Alcohol well hidden.

Hop Showers was the first beer that I ever had from Other Half so when I see anything like it for sale, I pick it up to find out how close it is to that original iteration. Because of the Sundew Yeast, this was quite different than what I expected but it was plenty bright, enjoyable, and well-crafted but given that this was a beer from Other Half, was the latter ever in doubt?

This had a milky, golden appearance to it that was uniform in hue and somewhat radiant, as there was plenty of head to top it off. A ton of layered lacing stayed behind as I worked my way through this with each ring easily bleeding down to the one below it, to the point where a majority of my pint glass was covered in suds once I worked my way through this. Loads of floral citrus, grape and grapefruit, peppery zest, and yeast in the nose as the taste was just as sunny, outdoorsy, and spicy with hints of wine and dryness underneath everything.

No doubt that this was not as bright as the original version of Hop Showers but it was every bit as nicely crafted and enjoyable. Hints of candied sugar and stone fruit from the yeast were what ultimately stuck around once I finished this off but that wasn't a detraction in the least. The booze in this wasn't even detectable as this felt much weaker than it's listed 7.4% ABV. Once again, Other Half has a winner on it's hands as this was plenty fun and enjoyable while being intriguingly unfamiliar at the same time. This held up well since it's canning date of 7/1 on the bottom and I'd easily reach for this again if I needed a beer to kick back with. Glad I was able to get my hands on this!

 

Pours cloudy orange/sand color with a 2+ finger thick creamy off-white head that faded very slowly and left excellent foamy rings of lacing as it receded. Smells like oranges, zest of lemon, honeydew melon, fresh cut flowers, grains, a hint of caramel and tropical fruit.

Tastes of tangerine, orange juice, grapefruit, honeydew melon, graham cracker, pineapple, light peppery spices, fresh cut flowers, tart grapefruit juice, biscuit or dry yeast, fruity candy like Razzles and tropical fruit. The feel is on the light side with a low level of bitterness, then a dry finish that’s on the sour side with hints of tea leaf as it fades.