Livin' Up North
Livingoods Restaurant & Brewery

new england ipa done with valcour as part of the mixed collaboration four pack, great idea and a lot of fun to drink through with my brother. this is solid, better to me than the hazy imperial type that all four breweries did together, more refined for one, and more distinctive on the hop profile, this is like mandarins and peaches, fresh and summery, fruity without being tropical or overly juicy in the way that its annoying or forced. a uniform haze to this, golden honey colored, not too dense and without visible sediment, a solid inch of white head rests on top, it glows in the glass. big ripe stone fruit in the nose, a little lemon maybe, a pretty clean ferment it seems too, and a simple grain base with just a little bit of sugar coming through it, wheaty i would suspect, minimal in the right places and fresh to me. the flavor is about the same, perhaps a little muted on the hops, which hit pretty late here, like the front half of this is a little plain or understated and the flavor climax hits right before the swallow, even right on it. i like it finishing on the dry side, and that it has no real hop burn to it is nice, especially compared to the slightly over hopped four way collaboration. good carbonation here, a slightly oily feel from the hops, very mild bitterness, overall quite solid, my second favorite behind the english ipa i think...