Citrus & Piney IPA (The Hop Freshener Series)
The Hop Concept Brewing

 

LOVE the Hop Concept Hop Freshener series of beers including this Citrus and Piney tall boy. Contrary to the brewery name for those averse to overly hoppy/danky beers it is actually not too hoppy. It also doesn't knock you out with too much citrus and pine with a subtle nose and taste...the citrus and pine are THERE for sure...just not overpowering. A bit on the stronger side so most will feel a tall boy of this to the head a bit. Pairs well with just about anything. Drink it as cold as possible. I prefer the cans (dropped into my Yeti tall boy cooler), outta the tap is a bit less tasty....I can contest to this as we have a Lost Abbey/Hop Concept tasting room right down the street! Lucky me! Buy the Hop Freshener case at your local Costco for all 3 beers in the series. You won't be sorry!

Bonus points overall for a drinking experience that is almost exactly like the can description. beautiful, nearly clear, bight gold color, upon initial pour but no lacing and the head is short lived. Very clean finish, moderate body, Nice mix of citrus and malt, plus some overtones of honey, but a tad less pine than the name suggests.

16oz can (no date) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a very hazy dark orange color with an inch of white head that had decent retention and very light lacing.

Citrusy hops, orange and lemon mostly, dominate the nose. No malt aspect.

Same on the tongue, but with a definite cardboard taste.

The body was decent, good carb, crisp, and smooth, with a semi-dry finish.

Drinkability was OK, but the cardboard cost it some.

Overall, not fully terrible, but not overly enjoyable either. Cannot recommend.

Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with a one finger head that leaves gobs of splashy lacing

Smell: Like the label says, there is a orange aroma that is pronouced but piney tones peek in; a layer of caramel malt rounds it out

Taste: A hint of caramel forward with the orange tones emerging; through the middle, dank pine tones emerge and dominate the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: No trips to the west coast in the near future for me, so this beer brings the west coast to my home

 

Can into pint glass. Pours a slightly hazy golden amber with a coarse white head. Initial impression is bitter citrus rind and pine, as advertised. Mouthfeel is medium, but dry and refreshing. Alcohol is well hidden. Finish is clean and bitter.
Definitely a West Coast DIPA, and quite well done. My first from Hop Concept, and I'm impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Stamped on the bottom of the can "freshest by 10/23/2019."
This was poured into a tulip.
The appearance had a semi-bright golden yellow color with a small degree of carbonation rising throughout. Capped by a thin sheet of white foamy head. Some messy sticky lace glossed the sides of the glass nicely.
The aroma had some bitter pine needles up front with some citrus rind and floral perfumey character balancing in the background.
The flavor tasted more like orange peel bitterness with floral hop particles playing with the citrus rind/pith-like character. Aftertaste of bitter citrus rind and floral sweetness.
The mouthfeel was between medium and full. Some good sipping quality about it. Definitely some dryness that felt nice. Good level of carbonation and finishes crisp and dry, light bitter grassiness.
Overall, an absolutely amazing West coast styled DIPA worthy of coming back to.

Light semi-cloudy golden color with a 2F head in a Spielgelau IPA glass.
Excellent aroma: molasses, toffee, piney, citrus.
Resinous and carbonated MF.
The flavors really come out in the taste: resinous,pine, citrus, molasses-toffee followed by a spicy finish.
Great beer.

 

 

 

Picked-up a four-pack of cans at Kappy's in Norwell for about fourteen dollars. Have had a few brews from these guys before. Very solid, nice change of pace from NEIPA.

1 Pint can:

Pours golden. A fluffy white head has good retention. Lacing sticks.

The smell is of citrus, grapefruit, orange, lemon, herbal/floral notes and pine.

The taste is of pine, grapefruit, herbs, apricot, orange, tangerine. Warming alcohol. Black pepper and earthy/catty spice bite. Bitter finish.

It is medium-bodied. Slightly raw.

A nice hop profile. A hop-forward, refreshingly bitter and spicy strong IPA.

 

Picked up a single from the Craft Beer Hop Stop cooler 10-10-18 for $3.25. Freshest by 1-5-19, whoops. Consumed on 1-18-19.

Beer poured golden orange with a nice two finger head that has some good hang time.

Nose is bready with hints of fresh citrus.

Taste is a nice bready baseline intermingled with orange and grapefruit. Finish is a medium pine hop bite.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and both smooth and refreshing.

Overall the Hop Concept series is classic WCIPA with this one being enjoyable!

Pint can, Freshest by 1/30/19 printed on bottom. Slightly hazy honey gold with a few fingers of pillowy white head that settle down, streams of small bubbles. Smell is fresh citrus and pine. Taste is juicy orange and tangerine with a modest piney flavor; well balanced and not particularly bitter. Feel is medium bodied and juicy. Overall, this is one of the best IPAs I have had; I really like the mix of hop flavors without too much bitterness, and all the other aspects are top notch.

16 ounce can into tulip glass, best before 2/21/2019. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy medium golden amber color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and minimal lingering hop astringency after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy, sticky/resinous/rindy, and fairly crisp balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 8.5%. Overall this is an awesome DIPA. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink with the moderately bitter/resinous/drying finish. Pretty aggressive, but not overwhelming. Great Amarillo, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, CTZ, Simcoe profile. Very vibrant, dank, earthy, and juicy balanced hop complexity; nice bready malt backbone, with no residual sweet from crisp resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and well made classic hopped style example as expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a pretty good one. It immediately has Raul reminiscing. No, not about a long lost love that got away (I still think of you, girl) but of a beer from his past. Yep! Enter Jai Alai. (I’m talking before conract brewing stripped Jai Alai of its soul).

I mean, this thing glows a golden orange like Hemingway thinking about The Sun Also Rises; then in the aroma and tongue is deep citrus (like how crops used to be on the family farm before Monsanto took over) and a perfect malt backbone that does you right well.

Hemingway eating a peach in Georgia, yeah, something as good as dat.

Pours a solid gold tan. True to its name there's an aroma of citrus and pine. I get a squeeze of orange gently waifing on the nose. Smoothly sweet, with the same tangerine orange note dominating in only the best sort of way. This is good.

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice amber color, piney and biscuit notes on the nose. Citrus is noticeable on palate with malt sweetness lingering on the tongue. Love it.

16 oz. Cans purchased from The Bottle Shoppe in sylmar, ca...An excellent double ipa... the 8.5 is easily marked by piney hops on the finish..
Very nice.. will buy again

Solid, very slightly above average West Coast style DIPA.