Invisible Touch
Fieldwork Brewing Co.

 

 

A: Lots of zesty citrus, faintly tropical and floral hop aromas.

A: Bright yellow color, opaque, with a frothy uniform white head with solid retention, light lacing in the glass.

T: Zesty citrus hop flavors upfront, followed by light tropical and floral notes, light acidity, moderately light hop bitterness and dry finish.

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation, and soft mouth-feel.

O: Solid; the beer has a great hop character with soft, creamy mouth-feel, giving it great drinkability.

 

Tap at steins
Murky orange peach, light fluffy head, lacing

Nose nice juicy citrus, orange juice, little tangerine, pineapple tropical fruits

Taste spicy hop, quite bitter with grassy floral hops, then tons of citrus, orange juice, mango, pith, pulp, little tropical maybe pineapple, dry very bitter finish

Mouth is med bod, decent carb

Overall petty nice

With the advent of the NEIPA craze, I'm pretty sure that about 88% of my IPA reviews have pretty much read the same: they're all either super citrus-y (orange, mango, etc.), mango, tropical fruit, grassy, or all of the above; they're all probably bone dry with minimal sweet interference from the malt base; and they're all probably medium-light bodied, with some sort of slick or sticky texture because of the flaked oats present in the grain bill.

It's rather exciting and refreshing, therefore, when I come across beers that doesn't quite fit into that NEIPA #hazebro cookie cutter, and Fieldwork's recent offerings seem to fit that bill pretty well. Take for example this refreshingly straightforward APA, kettle hopped with old money Equinox and Amarillo hops. Whereas it does lead off with a very pronounced lemon-like aroma, it's well supported by a cast of floral and herbal notes, that signature "mild" not quite citrus not quite melon Amarillo aroma, and a nice mellow hint of peppers toward the end.

The citrus is mostly absent on the tongue, but supplanted by generous portions of the floral/herbal hops notes, and a drying white pepper presence that brings forth a bitter wave more intense than ten thousand suns. Real talk, though, this isn't none of that super citrus-y, juicy, milkshake crap; it's a well-hopped, clean tasting, dry as hell, almost IPA-ish APA, which takes you back to simpler times when Heady Topper was the only beer you realistically had to worry about trading for.

Medium-light bodied with a dreamy creamy initial mouthfeel. Moderate, yet gentle carbonation with a crisp and clean finish. Not that it would come to anyone's surprise, but no sign of booze. I knew I should have bought more than four cans.

 

 

Solid NE Pale. Very light. Good mouth feel, but still very easy to drink.

Three day old can into a tulip glass.

L: Pours murky orange golden with 2+ fingers of variable density frothy white head with good retention and left ringed and spotted lacing.

S: Very tropical nose, plenty of mango and papaya, perhaps some subtle guava.

T: Much more influence from citrus than noticed on the nose. Finishes with mild bitterness and moderate astringency, which lingers a bit.

F: Plenty of body for a pale, higher carbonation, creamy on the tongue with some zing from the astringency.

O: One of the better NE-style APAs I've tried to date, and one of the creamy mouthfeel NE-style beers from Fieldwork. Definitely grab it again in the future.