Research Series: Hop Mélange
Frost Beer Works

 

 

I have had a few pretty great FBW beers at this point, and I thusly feel at least somewhat qualified to discuss their ongoing "research" attempts with unusual hop combos and yeast experimentation. RS: HM features Lotus, Calypso, and Cascade hops doing "the dance with a trifecta of yeast strains," which just makes me more confused. I thought reading about experimental beers by breweries you like was supposed to help you figure out what they were trying to accomplish. Huh. Well then.

This pours an opaque orange color with a frothy, intense foam collar building up to almost four fingers before slowly receding to a half-finger, leaving behind some spectacular lace around the edges of my glass. Well, this certainly looks the part, that's for sure. I am very intrigued at what exactly may be going on here, due in no small part to how awesome this appears in my glass.

The nose is initially dirty and raw, with notes of loose clay-laden earth, grapefruit rind, freshly-trimmed grass, and mango, followed up by some oncoming aspects of pine resin and pear-like orchard fruit. This is certainly "experimental" and therefore a tougher-than-usual nut to crack, but I don't think it has its cards completely hidden.

On the tongue, RS: HM presents as an oat/wheat-forward strong pale ale with some overtly-hoppy characteristics before its true nature unfolds... this thing is dank and sticky as hell. The transition to the finish is superbly layered with floral, piney, and orchard fruit-like hop elements that really sit on the tongue for a while before fading into another layer of grassiness and herbal funk. The Frost Beer Works team really drove this one home, and I'm happy that by "Hop Mélange," they don't just mean another listless beer with the same tropical/whatever approach that tries similar things to basically everything else that has come out over the past few years. I am definitely interested in what the different yeasts are doing here, because this honestly has a pretty "English ale yeast" estery note dominating most of it, but I feel like it is probable that they use something like that for all of their regular NEIPAs (as that is the common way to ferment such beers, considering the high ester production of such strains), so I would venture a guess that this may have a co-fermentation involving Brett Brux Trois or something else unusual. The feel is super dense, yet it remains pretty drinkable and fun to consider while sipping. Good job, FBW! I will continue to buy these as long as they intrigue me!