Caviar
Finback Brewery - Glendale

This is Decade Caviar 10th anniversary edition its pretty good

 

Had a pint on tap at Ale And Oyster in Albany, NY. Delicious. Wonderful aroma, sweet and smooth taste. . As others have said, the alcohol is well-hidden. A really fine beer.

This could be a dangerous beer. At 10% ABV, it drinks like 5%!! LOVE IT!!

unbelievable soft feel to a triple. Nary a detectable presence of alcohol. very well done.

Poured into a tulip glass via draft at Haymaker Bar (NYC) 4/24/2019

color is a bright hazy orange

smell is sweet citrus

taste is Citrus all day with some honeydew melon added..no malt detected which is amazing for a TIPA, nor did I get any alcohol burn from the 10% ABV

Mouthfeel is full and creamy, carbonation is medium

this was as good as any TIPA I've had..its amazing to me that these beers can be made and go down as smooth as a 5% session beer..a dangerous slope to slide down!

 

A: The beer is very hazy to cloudy yellow in color. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that quickly died down, leaving some wisps of bubbles on the surface and some lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of lychee fruit are present in the nose along with hints of gooseberries and limes.
T: The taste follows the smell, but has stronger flavors of lychee fruit along with notes of gooseberries and hints of limes. Only a slight amount of bitterness is present.
M: It feels medium-bodied and rather juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is packed with lots of fruity aromas and flavors and is easy to drink because it does an exceptional job at hiding any traces of alcohol from the taste.

Serving type: can

 

 

Smells really great. Nice hop flavor, but finishes pretty strongly with alcohol.

Pours very hazy. A big, rich, decadent New England style beer. Fragrant and perfumey. Lots of deep, almost tangy aromas and flavors. Melons and fruit nectar. Creamy, full feel. Soft carbonation and evident alcohol. Very rich.

Drank from a 1 pint (16 fl. oz.) can purchased at Fort Point Market, Boston, MA
03/29/19
Served in a tulip

Cloudy, pale straw yellow appearance. The nearly opaque body was topped by a small, bubbly white film that quickly fell to a thin collar. A single drippy ringlet of lacing trickled down the glass.

The aroma was amazingly hoppy and complex. Super fruity and bold with a big tropical fruit presence. Loads of guava and papaya. There was an intense tutti fruity gum-like note as well. Nice dose of weed-like dankness too. Citrus was also apparent. Sweet, juicy orange notes came to mind. Touch of ripe peach. The alcohol appeared later but never became excessive.

The flavor was also really hoppy and intense but somewhat raw on the finish. Juicy tangerine notes dominated up front. Peach and mango appeared in the center. Candied orange peel came through on the back end and in the finish. Some pithy white grapefruit peel too. Bitter piney, resiny hops showed up after the swallow. As the beer warmed, the raw bitterness subsided and the fruity sweetness intensified.

Outstanding creamy, soft, plush mouthfeel. Super slick and smooth on the palate. Medium bodied for the style. The liquid contained a fine, moderate, tongue blanketing effervescence.

Triple IPAs are a dime a dozen these days, but this reissue of Finback’s 3rd anniversary beer stands apart from most others. The hops were so amazingly potent and pure in the nose and big and bold in the flavor profile, and the malts contributed the perfect amount of balance and body. I hope they continue to release this every year.

FINALLY got my hands on a can of Caviar, Finback's much-vaunted anniversary triple IPA. This was first released a few years ago and was the first documented use of "Cryo Hops" I had ever seen in the wild. Now that Cryo Hops, LupuLN2, and its other trade names have found their way into all sorts of IPAs in the US, this seems a little less exciting, but putting it into perspective, this still seems super-fresh and inspiring. Canned 3/29/19 and hopped with both pellet and Cryo Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe, Caviar is truly decadent in much the same way as the delicate, generic-rich-person dish it is named after.

This beer pours a gorgeous opaque golden-orange with a thin but retentive head of pure-white foam that leaves behind absolutely spectacular lacing as it dissipates. I'm talking straight-up strata of dense suds utterly coating the glass each time I take a sip. Almost-perfect looking beer... I just wish it had slightly better legs. That's literally all that's keeping it from being one of the best NEIPAs I've ever seen.

The nose is just utterly intoxicating right off the bat, and I'm not talking about the ethanol content (which this is, of course, no slouch when it comes to)... just hops. Pure, beautiful hops. This has the pungent woody, earthy note of Mosaic with the subtle and complex intertwining notes of tangerine, papaya and overripe mango from Citra. Last, but not least, is the beautiful pine-y and complex citric undercurrent brought about by Simcoe. This is truly a trifecta of incredible hops, and it is displayed in such a succinct and beautiful manner in this beer. Dank, juicy, beautifully-fruity and well-rounded... this just smells divine. Up there with some of my very favorite Hill offerings (Double Nelson, Double Citra, Double Galaxy, S&S #8). I mean it. Damn, guys.

If you thought this would fall off on the palate, you'd be wrong. This is just an amazing, smooth experience all around. Flavors of orange creamsicle, mango, papaya, pineapple and pine meld with a dense, chewy mid-palate malt experience that nevertheless stays light enough in the finish to warrant expecting, salivation-inducing sips. Additional flavors of lychee, passion fruit, white grapefruit, tangerine and ripe red berries... man, this is just great.

Feel is on the heavy side with evident ethanol and a definite grainy drag as I swallow each sip, but it's really a nice burn and reminds me to drink it slowly... not only due to its strength, but also out of respect for just how jam-packed this is with amazing hoppiness. Wish I had picked up another can. Should have. Until next year, Caviar. I salute you!

 

Pours with decent 1 finger head, clarity in the glass, smells hoppy and slightly sweet, tastes-strong yet balanced, goes down easy. -mine might be close to becoming spoiled but can tell the potential here.