Behold!
Steady Habit Brewing Company

 

Drank from a 750 ml growler purchased at Steady Habit Brewing Company, Haddam, CT
Served in a pint glass

Cloudy, yellow ochre appearance. Even with an aggressive pour, the creamy, off white head barely raised to an inch tall. A few small streaks of lacing stuck along the glass.

The aroma was fantastically complex and really unique. The first thing that struck me was an intense, sweet honey quality that was very floral and bright. Wildflowers came to mind. The hops were quite fruity. Super juicy and dank. Overripe peaches were apparent. Tropical fruits were also noticeable. I definitely picked up some guava and papaya. Hint of melon as well. As the beer warmed, the overripe peach and tropical fruit notes became even more intense.

The flavor profile was solid but nowhere as interesting as the nose. Citrus notes dominated. Lots of orange zest and grapefruit. Juicy with a nice balance of both sweet and bitter. The beer finished with an orange rind-like pithiness that lingered long after the swallow. Bit of sulfur/skunk as well that fortunately dissipated within a few minutes. As the beer sat, peach notes appeared. Candied or overripe peaches came to mind. Bit of tropical fruitiness too. Mango was noticeable.

On the palate, the beer was medium bodied for the style and contained a rather subtle carbonation. While I initially thought that this could have been due to my growler, I later saw other reviewers noting the same thing. Fairly creamy and slick on the palate. Light and frothy.

Like Steady Habit's Yeah Nah Bro double IPA, Behold! is a really interesting and unique take on a hoppy beer. While I may not have seen many of the tell-tale signs of Nelson Sauvin hops in this beer (white wine, lemony tartness, etc.), it was excellent nevertheless. I am excited to visit these folks again next time I head back to Connecticut.

 

 

 

First taste of this brewers goods lives up to the hype. Aroma is a full-on punch in the face of grapefruit citrus grass and melon. Taste is same but moderately bitter. A little chalky in the mouthfeel but doesn't detract. More malt character would smooth out the beer and send it into epic territory for me.
Excellent beer nonetheless.

 

 

 

 

 

750ml growler split (unevenly, favoring me) about 3 ways.

Appearance: Light hazy yellow with some frothy lacing.

Smell: Lemony and dank/earthy. Graham cracker malt note comes out with time and is really nice. Hops don't get too much of the Nelson tropical fruit / pineapple aroma, but do pick up some of that deep earthiness that makes Nelson Sauvin so polarizing (almost cheesy--I love it).

Taste: The earthy, Nelson pungency is right up front in the flavor, with a big hit of pineapple and cereal grain. Not to give too much ground to modern parlance, but this is totally crushable.

Juicy and refreshing. The hop flavor is tangy, succulent, and powerful. The malt is right there with it, and despite being such a light bodied, well-attenuated American Pale Ale, not a hint of solvent alcohol anywhere. The proverbial hop juice that you want out of a straightforward, single hop showcase like this.

Flavor develops with time too. You wouldn't regret killing a growler of this on your own, over a nice period of time.

Mouthfeel: Lightbodied, juicy and dry. Low side of moderate carbonation, but the dryness makes up for it. Hard to get better than this for what the beer is trying to be.

Overall: CT is lucky to have this beer around as we get out of this awful Winter. This is a rock solid pale ale that would be perfect for long Saturday drinking.

Really ridiculous how high the bar is getting for hoppy beer in the northeast. It's hard to find any fault at all with a lot of this stuff that's coming out, Behold! being a prime example. I had my growler at a party, where this beer was loved by my hophead friend, my anti-IPA ("no bitter beer!") friend, and my all-arounder self. Excellent stuff. I hope they can scale this.

 

My rating of this beer was based on the 100% Nelson recipe. I got a taste of the new recipe--which does NOT include Nelson--and I really enjoyed it. I plan to add a new review once I revisit the beer with a fuller tasting experience.

In terms of the "old" recipe:
L: Hazy, bordering on cloudy lemon-yellow body. Retained a decent white head that held a small ring of foam after settling. Sticky, translucent lacing made its way down the glass.
S: It's really hard to make a bad smelling Nelson beer in my opinion. But this one stands out from others I've tried, and the brewer did a great job letting the Nelson shine in the aroma.
T: Very nice flavor profile—white grapes and a range of citrus fruits, even a little stonefruit. Excellent balance for an APA using only Nelson hops. The malty sweetness is there, but so are the Nelson hops. However, I feel like this recipe could have been turned up to 11 if the brewer wanted to make this a big beer with a big ABV. Nevertheless, it was delicious.
F: Carb was a touch weak which is unfortunate because the softness of the body created such a nice mouthfeel. There is a nice bitter hop bite that helps out the rather soft carb.
O: This is another solid offering from SH. Not my favorite of their's but one I would definitely fill more growlers with.

 

This poured out as a hazy looking golden color with a white head on top. The smell of the beer has that funky Nelson aroma to it. The taste is pretty good, a little funky as well. The feel of the beer is very smooth and sessionable. Overall this beer was very good.

Very enjoyable- Worth the trip to Steady. Cool to have another up and coming brewery in CT.

 

I really enjoyed this beer. I would have liked to see a little more bitterness on the back end. Overall, fantastic. I thought this was a real pretty looking beer. Excited to have another great brewery here in CT.