Among The Bandits
Finback Brewery - Glendale

One of the best NEIPAs I've ever tasted. Enjoyed at CraftandCarry (Grammercy NYC).
a) Pours a hazy, dull orange body with scads of lace.
s) Smell bursts powerfully with citrus, tropical hops, orange, grapefruit, mango
t) Balance see-saw of sweet biscuity malt and juicy, dank and resinous hops, with citrus, tropical and orange, grapefruit, lime peel, and mango.
f) Smooth chill.

One of my favorites from Finback.

Pours a hazy, bright orange coloration with a small, fluffy head. Smells of light biscuity malt and citrus, tropical hops, with notes of orange, grapefruit, mango and papaya. Taste is an excellent balance of light biscuity malt and fruity, juicy, slightly dank and resinous hops, with citrus, tropical and berry notes of orange, grapefruit, lime peel, mango, papaya, gooseberry and strawberry, as well as hints of pine and grassy weed. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some grapefruit, mango, gooseberry and hints of pine lingering in the aftertaste. Soft mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This is a NEIPA just after my own heart, being quite fruity and juicy, but also dank and resinous, with a good bitterness in the finish. There is a great nuance to this, as well as a wide variety of citrus, tropical and berry notes, with the tangy, zesty citrus notes dominating with hints of pine and weed rounding this out wonderfully and giving a certain edge to it that elevates this above your typical fruit punch NEIPAs. The hops are are quite vibrant and expressive, one of the best examples of the style that I had in a long time.

First Finback beer I’ve had. Almost two months old. Very cloudy, pale gold, almost yellow hues. Light, fluffy head and lacing. Pineapple and apricot scents, a bit of a yeast smell as well. Taste is soft, tangy, mildly citrusy. Feel is creamy, mouth filling, mouth watering, and assertive alcohol presence. It has grown on me as I’ve drank it. Good, not great, but I may try something else from them.

 

Bet description I can offer for color is milky lemonade.? Nose is the typical citrus. Head was again the typical white, however it dissipated quickly. No lacing speak of. Taste was a mix of orange and grapefruit. Bitterness was there, however not as much as I prefer.

 

Look: Pours a very, very hazy straw yellow color with a two finger off white head of dense foam. Doesn't lace the glass. Very brief head retention.

Aroma: Barley sugar and cream of wheat. Bittersweet savory pine sap and slightly ashy/smoky notes of flambeed orange and grapefruit peels.

Taste: Tangy and bitter. Upfront heavy notes of orange juice that immediately turn bitter with huge notes of grapefruit peel. Goes malty only for an instant before going peppery and dry. Pleasant, extremely bitter aftertaste which goes on and on.

Feel: Prickly. Dry. Full bodied with low carbonation.

Overall: If you like raw, unflitered, bitter NEIPAs you'll love this.

 

 

 

 

Pours a hazy golden. Lots of tropical fruit aroma. I get a lot of pineapple and guava from this. It's super tropical with a touch of bitterness on the finish. It's extremely drinkable, though the bite becomes more prominent as the beer warms. One of the better NEIPAs I've had lately.

 

A: The beer is very hazy to cloudy whitish yellow in color. It poured with a finger high white head that left a large, thin patch of bubbles on teh surface and a minuscule collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of gooseberries and honeydew melon are present in the nose.
T: The taste has flavors of gooseberries along with notes of mangos and oranges and hints of pine, the latter of which is most noticeable in the finish.
M: It feels medium-bodied, dank, and a little juicy on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This New England-style IPA is more dank than it is juicy, but it has an interesting combination of aromas and flavors from the hops.

Serving type: can

 

 

Always enjoy adding and reviewing new Finback beers to the BA archives. This one is hopped with Citra, Azacca, Belma, and Waimea, and it clocks in at a healthy 7.5% ABV. I really dig the label art, but I will say that reading the hop bill, which is printed in silver on a can that is black-and-silver art is tough as hell. Enough whining, though, let's dig in!

Pours a typical overly-hazy Finback NEIPA pour with a super murky opacity built around a milkshake-looking yellow-orange color that supports a two finger (or so) head at its highest point. Good retention, but the lace leaves a little to be desired, especially in terms of consistency. I wish it weren't just drippy and sparse. Anyway, good legs here as well. You're just gonna have to love super-hazy IPAs to appreciate the appearance of ATB.

The nose here is kind of non-aggressive and seemingly pretty focused on a softer assortment of fruits than I expect from these guys. Doesn't have a big punch to it, but Belma and Azacca are slightly more "gentle" varietals from my understanding, anyway, so maybe that makes some sense. Grassiness, a bit of apricot and nectarine, some light dankness, and a touch of guava are most of what I get here. There's the requisite yeasty/doughy note that some Finback hazebombs have, as well. It seems that the Waimea may be the most expressive single hop here, but I guess some of the Azacca is notable as well, considering the light orchard fruit/tropical thing going on.

First sips are characteristically "Finback" as well, which makes sense. This can is only 11 days old and tasting quite fresh with big flavors of pine, melon, red berries, grassiness, and a touch of tropical fruit toward the mid-palate. I am not usually the biggest fan of Azacca or Belma hops, but they do a pretty good job here, probably because the recipe seems to lean on the other two varietals for the most part, since it's pushing some decent citrusy flavors and a solid bitterness in the finish. Perhaps a little too "hop burn"-y for me at times, which is something that can happen with Finback at times, meaning I wouldn't be huge into getting this again (though I did pick up two cans because why not?). Chewy and dense but without much specific, unique character to it, Among the Bandits is drinkable enough and certainly not bad, but I don't think it's spectacular whatsoever.