American Cheese
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

Green-hued straw color. (The flavor belies the watery color.) There’s strong haze that stops just short of cloudy. Lasting film from the moderate head. The lacing consists of thicker streaks and larger spots.

The smell has some sweetness but it leans dry. Some grapefruit rind and light pine.

This seems to be a hybrid between the NEIPAs and the west coast style. It’s neither dry nor juicy but has elements of both. The body is thinner than many American IPAs but they also held the carbonation back making a decently balanced beer. The finish is balanced but the aftertaste becomes bitter over time.

Pours a hazy golden orange yellow color you expect from Other Half. I get pineapple, passion fruit, and mango on the nose. It tastes like that Tropicana Fruit Punch with a touch of fruit pebbles minerality on the finish. It's soft and pleasant but lacks bitterness and it lacks complexity. It is very pleasant to drink, but it is not particularly interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

top notch as usual

 

 

 

 

 

Hazy pale orange yellow appearance with a white foamy head, decent retention, modest spotty lacing. Grapefruit, pineapple, mandarin oranges, mildly bitter hop notes. Full body, moderate to full carbonation.

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 12/11/23. Pours a very attractive hazy milky yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves plenty of webs of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is passionfruit, peach, coconut, pineapple, mandarin, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows passionfruit, peach, pineapple, mandarin, coconut, and apricot very well distributed. 4.25

Mouthfeel is a little above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 6.5% it has bigger flavor, but very easy going down. 4.25

Overall this is really impressive at only 6.5%. I would certainly recommend for sure. 4.25

Pours cloudy orange color with a 1-2 finger thick foamy head that faded slowly and left nice lacing. Aroma is a mix of lemon, orange peel, grapefruit, yuzu, tangerine, fruity fry candy like Razzles, herbs, peppery spices and lime. The nose resembles a creamsicle. Taste is tart and bitter with a mix of tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, yeast, orange juice, white pepper, buttery biscuit, apricot, starfruit, fruity candy and a dry finish which fades with a hint of vanilla. Goes down easy.

Look:
Pours a completely opaque, hazy and cloudy shade of yellow with a dense, two finger off white head of foam that hangs around for a very long time and laces the glass exceptionally well.

Aroma:
Slightly earthy/funky with heady notes of guava and dried mango. There is a slight "cheesey" type of pungency too it, but not in an offputting way. Some bitter tangerine peel - intermingled between frosted pastry notes in the background as well.

Taste:
The flavor is more mild than I would have anticipated and the nose and appearance lets on. This is very pillowy and soft to the tongue - showcasing flavors mostly of sweet orange marmalade and tangy clementine. Goes bitter very briefly, with some mild notes of grapefruit pith and zesty lemon/lime rind. Overall this is creamy, dense and soft to the palate with mostly sweet flavors of peach & orange preserves with just a hint of bitterness on the back end to round things out.

Feel:
Low carbonation (almost none) with a very creamy body. Not overtly heavy or sticky thankfully. Easy drinking, but quite filling and hearty.

Overall:
There really aren't that many beers that Other Half makes I don't like; that being said American Cheese is a very solid DDH imperial NEIPA. I'd imagine this might not be bitter or dry enough for some, but that isn't to say it's a sugar bomb - this is rather well balanced in my opinion. Love the hop varieties in this as well Citra, Simcoe, Cashmere and Cascade are all on full display here.