Fake Plastic Trees
Brazos Valley Brewing Company

 

 

I am pleased to see this beer and the resurgence of the West Coast IPA style. I also has happy that use of spruce tips in the brewing of the beer.

I had this beer at the brewery, poured from tap into a shaker pint. Dark yellow color with nice white head and good lacing. Piney, fruity smell and taste. Would have liked to had a bit more bitter kick at the finish but this is a good IPA. Maybe Brazos Valley would consider a black IPA?

Pours amber/copper with hints of blonde and a thick layer of foam which gradually subsides to a thin layer of bubbles. Carbonation looks average/below average. Lots of lacing as you drink. Aroma is toffee, dates, a hint of bubblegum, honey and a hefty amount of pine -- not unlike a spruce! As with the aroma, it is more balanced than I expected, but I'm enjoying the balance. If you drink it fast, you get a pretty balanced mixture of roasted malts and piney hops. The longer it lingers on your tongue, the more bitter it gets, with grapefruit rind, lemon peel and pine needles coming through. Finishes crisp but not overly dry with a lingering roasted, bitter pine flavor. Mouthfeel is perfect: average carbonation with a little bit of substance. Almost chewy, but not quite. Quite drinkable, really. I've never had any beers from this brewery, so this was a stab in the dark for me. Really pleased with this one, though. Will have to seek out more from Brazos Valley. Cheers!

 

pours a clear dark gold body with billowing off-white froth head that has moderate retention and leaves plenty of sticky lacing as it settles to a thin cap

aroma is fresh and evergreen and clean; pine hops and advertised spruce forward, slight grapefruit citrus, and solid sticky rich malt backbone

taste follows the nose, but digs in with the malt. sticky, chewy, resinous - the caramel malt and evergreen hop and spruce balance one another very well.

moderate carbonation, medium body. chewy. slight carbo and booze prickles here and there, finishes dry and earthy bittersweet.

overall:
solid IPA that uses a traditional ingredient to get an extra "evergreen/mountain air" *umph* and totally nails it. if you're a disciple of the pine hop, give it a go.