Seeing Sounds
Platform Beer Co.

At last, the penultimate of the CANtinuation of my (Un?)Happy New Jumping Off of the New Platform Beer Sunday (Week 755)! I have been redding up my house during my CANvalescence from surgery & putting together a number of brewery horizontals in doing so. I had planned, even before its announcement about its sale to A-B/InBev, to drink a buncha beers & a seltzer from Kleveland's Platform Beer Co. for this week's NBS. I was disheartened to hear of the news, especially having read the GI story. I am not one to boycott a beer due to their acquisition by a large corporation, but it did take some of the wind out of my sails.

From the CAN: "Small Batch IPA Series"; "Grains[:] 2 Row[,] Pilsner[,] Pale Wheat[,] Flaked Oat[,] Acidulated[,] Hops[:] Galena[,] El Dorado[,] Citra[,] Centennial[,] Yeast[:] Voss Viek[,] Hazy IPA[,] Plato[:] 14.5[,] IBU[:] 25"; "Ohio Craft Beer".

At this point, I have decided that if they identify it as "Hazy IPA/NEIPA" on the CAN, then I am proceeding acCANdingly with a hard Glug. First, though, I needed to Crack! open the vent in order to get things started. I beCAN by letting it free-flow until the foaming action got to be a bit much, forcing me to back down & off. Once again, I wound up with two-plus fingers of foamy, soapy, rocky, tawny head with decent retention. It was like we had done this before! Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). Nose smelled of orange, pineapple & grapefruit & I got a distinct sense of deja vu! This horizontal has really paid dividends in that had I not done it this way, I would have missed out on a LOT of the subtle nuances between these beers. I am also sure that Platform would have rather that I drank them fresh, but I took good care of them & look at how well this has turned out. Mouthfeel was medium. This was a VERY citrusy, very juicy NEIPA, more towards an old skool AIPA. Fine by me! Finish was semi-dry, very fruity, very citrusy, slightly tropical & a real winner. YMMV.

 

 

 

 

Platform Beer Co. "Seeing Sounds"
12 fl. oz. can, coded "(illegible)/28/18"
$2.99 @ Roger Wilco, Pennsauken, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Ahhh, interesting, they've basically got their whole recipe on the can, I like that. OK, here we go... well it's quite foamy, I wonder if that date on the bottom of the can is an expiration date or a canning date, and what was it supposed to say? It's quite cloudy and yeasty. Yeast is mainly what I get in the nose although there are some citrusy/tropical hops there as well. I'm getting more orange than anything else, but it's not a particularly strong aroma, at least not for a NE IPA. Back to the appearance, it's an orange in color and the head is a yellowed off-white. The head has held up well but it's dropped by now, and there's lots of splashy lace left behind. On to the flavor... oh biy, yeah, this is too yeasty. It's not the worst I've ever had but just like in the aroma the yeast itself is a major flavor component. I won't be able to drink this. The malt comes through nicely, and it's sweet and grainy, but balanced by a stiff bitterness (the can lists 25 IBUs). I'm getting tangerine, apple, some lemon, pine, and earthiness. It's pretty nice, and a bit unusual for the style, but the heavy yeastiness ruins it. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp. Overall it has potential but this particular can, or even batch, has a flaw that shoots it down.
Review# 6,230

I bought a 6pck of this from my local meijer. It poured a hazy orangish with white head that is leaving a nice lace. The scent had faint blood orange. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with tropical citrus presence. The mouthfeel is lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall its a solid beer.

 

 

 

 

12 ounce can into tulip glass; no can dating, but is a recent release. Pours moderately hazy deep golden orange/amber color with a 1-2 finger dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of grapefruit, orange juice, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, papaya, guava, berry, citrus zest, slight pepper/pine, wheat, white bread dough, light honey, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical hops, fruity yeast, and bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of big grapefruit, orange juice, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, papaya, guava, berry, citrus zest, slight pepper/pine, wheat, white bread dough, light honey, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Very minimal pine, zesty, herbal, grassy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, orange juice, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, papaya, guava, berry, citrus zest, slight pepper/pine, wheat, white bread dough, light honey, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops, fruity yeast, and bready malt flavors; with no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is fantastic. No warming alcohol for 6.2%. Overall this is a delicious NEIPA! All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops, fruity yeast, and bready malt flavors; extremely smooth and pretty refreshing to drink with the very minimal bitter/drying finish. Perfectly soft feel. El Dorado, Citra, Centennial hops. Extremely juicy hops and Kviek yeast; perfectly balanced wheat/oat/malts, not overly sweet. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.

 

 

 

 

Unfiltered enjoyment!

 

When I seee this Brewer I know to purchase and try...no disappoint mentioned here. Nice hazy appearance, smooth drinking with a nice balance of hops and whatnot. Recommend.