Doctor’s Hop Tonic
Delafield Brewhaus

Hop Tonic comes on as one would expect with an explosive aroma of citrus and juniper. It smells juicy and sticky like a fresh handful of oily hops. That great gin quality is there as are aromas of grapefruit, lemon, and orange zest. Very impressive to the olfactory.

As far as appearances and taste are concerned, however, this brew falls a bit short. The color is fine, a bright orange-brown with a thin creamy white head, but there is no visible carbonation and this did not come off a cask… The flavor too just doesn’t hold up. The aroma gives off such a pleasing hop aroma, I expected some or most to follow through in the flavor. Instead, I found a nice biscuit malt base with almost no hops presence what-so-ever. I suppose that would be ok for a dark mild but the body is so thin, watery, and flat that I just could take it. One or the other would have been fine but a flat body on top of a dull taste is just too much to let slip.

Note: I'm problably being too harsh considering the style. I guess this beer is a victim of its own awesome aroma.

Picked up a growler of this to sample. First time inside the Brewhaus and I was impressed with an easy view of the nice conical fermeters.

Now onto the beer...

A-Hazy orange body with an airy, white head that left a little lacing that eventually turned to a soapy appearance.

S-One smell of this should get hop lovers excited. An extremely fresh hop aroma reminds me of sticking my nose in a bag of hop pellets. Not overdone, but wonderfully presented in the nose.

T-A bit disappointing after getting such a great smell. The taste is greeted with a mild (maybe saaz) hop bitterness. It doesn't seem like there were any West Coast hops used for bittering or flavor. The hops seem to be a cover for the very thin, uneventful body. The finish is a bit rough and dry.

M-Again, a very thin body makes the hops come across a bit coarse. The little malt that is present seems grainy. Body comes across quite flat and unflattering.

D-I cannot argue and say that it is not easy to drink, but there is not a lot of attributes that excite me. I have no problem with session ales like this, but that doesn't mean it has to lack body. With a name like hop tonic, I would expect a bit fuller body with a more rounded hop presence.

I understand that brewpubs are need to make a profit and serve light session ales, but I am consistantly unimpressed with the brewpubs beers in the area. With that being said, I will definately be back to try their Millenium Tripel.

No knock on this beer should be taken as a slam to the brewery itself. It is great to see such nice places producing a wide range of beers to the disperse to the unelightened BMC-luvin' public.