Cat Hand
Finback Brewery - Glendale

outstanding imperial ipa here, epic hop mix, but so much to like about this, the smoothness of the base beer, the tiny bit of residual sugar flattering the hops, the freshness of course, the creamy frothy starchy grain body, the pillowy easy this has and how well hidden the alcohol is, crazy drinkable for the style, usually the hazy strong ones feel bogged down, but not this. bitterness is low but it still drinks like ipa, and i found this actually very approachable for what it is. the pour is relatively dense but not yucky or anything, super high headed from the pint can, two inches of puffy white foam, nose of vanilla bean, sliced citrus, overripe honeydew melon already cubed up in the fridge sitting in its own juice for a few days, lime and lime leaf, cashmere and nelson out in front to me, floral white wine, lemongrass, just a hint of weedy dankness, but a certain tidiness too, all very fresh. the flavor is great, just long breaking hop waves, smooth surfing, meyer lemon, tangerine, chardonnay, cantaloupe and french melon, smarties candylike that chalky generic fruitiness but better, and some almost rustic grain to me, could be some raw wheat, oats also seem apparent with how smooth and full and flush this is, long but not sugary, bold but not oily or permanent on the palate, subtle enhancing yeast element perceptible, very low bitterness, candied lemon and stone fruit as it warms, lots of nelson, really nice overall hop build, lots of el dorado too with that melon at its apex. it doesnt drink as strong as it is, and its fantastic overall. finback really impressed me in this latest round of cracking single cans with my brother, so much diversity and its all so good! im not a huge fan of cats, but im a big fan of this beer, and much less allergic...

A: Pours a bright milky murky mango yellowish orange in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate bright yellow + bright orange + peach + apricot colored highlights. The beer has a three finger tall dense creamy sudsy foamy bright white head that slowly reduces to a handful of small to medium sized patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of slightly mottled thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate to significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of juicy honeydew melon + tropical/papaya + tropical/mango + pear + citrus/lime hops over the top of moderate aromas of biscuit + wheat + oat malts with moderate amounts of sugary sweetness.

T: Upfront there are moderate flavors of biscuit + wheat + oat malts with moderate amounts of sugary sweetness. That is followed by moderate to strong flavors of juicy honeydew melon + tropical/papaya + tropical/mango + pear + citrus/lime hops which impart a light to moderate amount of bitterness which fades away quickly leaving lingering tropical hop flavors.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly crisp initially with a light to moderate amount of creamy soft/fluffy mid-body and a moderate amount of dryness in the finish.

O: Drinks pretty easily though the alcohol is not quite as well hidden as other examples in the style and a pleasant mouthfeel. Enjoyable hop profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: The beer is very hazy to cloudy pale yellow in color. It poured with a quarter finger high dense white head that settled down and left just a minuscule collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of candy are present in the nose along with notes of honeydew melon and lime.
T: The taste has flavors of candy along with notes of lime and melon as well as hints of pear.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I really enjoyed the candy-like aromas and flavors in this beer. It drinks very well considering its strength and does a very good job at hiding any traces of alcohol from the taste.

Serving type: can

 

 

 

 

Can from the brewery in Queens during 2020 COVID pause ( or should I say paws?). Pours a hazy dark golden orange with a fluffy white head that lingers and good lacing, smell is mild tropical hop candy with hints of dank citrus and pine pitch, taste is luscious ripe melon and papaya up front that transitions into peach ring, orange blossom, and mango, finishes with a mild pithy bitterness, this beer is creamy and chewy. Definitely a possible way for how a cat hand makes me feel might taste, sweet, warming, luxuriously fruity goodness. Yams.

Poured into a teku glass via can

Color is a honey yellow

Smell is is sweet tropical fruit and some lemon zest

Taste is sweet on the lips followed by some clean bitter hop bite

Carbonation is medium as is the mouthfeel

Soild

Another day, another Finback IPA I'm adding to BA... there are definitely worse things in the world, and this is a really good problem to have, especially considering they have largely been fantastic recently. Cat Hand is dry-hopped with Citra, Cashmere, 007, El Dorado, and Nelson. It clocks in at 9% ABV and my can was packaged exactly a week ago on 5/14/20. Fresh as hell!

The pour here is slightly lighter than some other Finback IPAs I've had lately, even considering this has a stronger lean to it than some. It's definitely overtly-hazy and cloudy, but the head is a huge dollop of eggshell-white foam sitting right on top, and it only sinks after a few minutes down to about a half-finger, leaving behind incredible lacing; sheets of suds stick around indefinitely and really give this some good character right off the bat.

The nose seems biased towards Citra and Nelson, I'll just say that right off the bat. Considering I am a huge fan of these two hops, and also considering they work superbly-well together, I'm gonna just assume I will be greatly enjoying this brew, but if you don't like either of these hops, this likely will not be worthwhile to you. Super-juicy grapefruit, mango, guava, and gooseberry combined with some light grassiness, herbal notes, and the Sauvignon blanc-like tropical funk of Nelson... yum. This is the second beer I've had from Finback in as many days, however, that 007/Idaho 7 just gets totally lost. This hop has always been interesting to me, but it just doesn't stand out here. At least I can pick up Cashmere's weird coconut/lemon notes and El Dorado's mango/pineapple/stone fruit stuff to some extent. 007 gets lost in the shuffle, though, I feel like.

Flavor profile is very juicy and supple; really enjoying this one! Flavors of apricot, lemon candy, tangerine, orange, mango, and papaya really meld well together while the soft and convincingly-smooth mouthfeel help glue everything together. 9%? Jesus, guys. This barely tastes like a DIPA, it's so damn well-made! Cashmere is definitely doing some fun stuff here, kind of under the radar compared to the heavy-hitting combo of Citra/Nelson, but it's certainly going hard on the herbal aspect while backing up with specific citrus notes that feel effortless. This is fantastic. I would certainly drink four of these... you must enjoy Nelson, though, as it is definitely a big undercurrent to the flavor profile here. High marks for sure... Cat Hand is no joke!