California Stars
Ocelot Brewing Company

Beautiful scent and nice clean taste. Awesome show of galaxy hops.

On draft
L: Vibrant yellow, hazy color. Somewhat similiar to a hefe but a little clearer.
S: Fruity hop nose (Orange, peach and mango)
T: Lager like malt taste upfront followed by some grapefruit rind and a little bitterness.
F: Good carbonation resulting in a nice mouthfeel
A nice fresh, crisp tasting IPA. The lager notes kind of remind me of SN pale ale.

 

On draft at world of beer, ballston.

Big bold citrus nose. Bright gold colors. 1.5 fingers. Lots of passion fruit and a wonderful bitter bite at the end. A tingling carbonation on the tongue that lingers.

 

 

 

Very west coast in nature. Pale, dry, and light bodied, which boosts the perceived bitterness.

Lots of big Galaxy aromas: dank, grassy, tropical. More of the tropical and less dank and vegetal than their Galaxy DIPA (Mountain of Dreams) which was also good.

Flavor follows. Pale, dry, bitter with nice notes of dank, grass, tropical fruit and some bitter citrus pith. A bit of slickness, but not enough to make me think diacetyl.

Feel: As mentioned. Pale, dry, bitter, and light-bodied. Finish is long, bitter, and fruity. Carbonation helps to cleanse the bitterness and aids the drinkability.

Overall: Another super nice IPA from Ocelot. Can't overstate how good they've been coming out of the gates.

On tap at brewery:
Again, I am sure my love for this beer is driven at least partially by its freshness, but...

A nice pale golden color, clarity disrupted only by the condensation on the sides of the beer. A large island of thin white head sits atop this pour, with a fixzy white ring circumnavigating the edge of the glass. Abstract sheets of lacing are present.

The nose starts fairly dank, but there seem to but done tropical notes trying to escape. The net effect strangely enough reminds me of watermelon, the part right near the rind that isn't pure white, but you are near the danger zone.

The taste is actually fairly light in feel. Seems crackery, but is definitely hop-forward. The fruit notes that tried found a way to slip into the nose seemed to be stopped at the door to taste. Dank, lightly grassy, maybe some bitter citrus (the classic grapefruit pith) dominate the taste and envelop the palate. The one downside-letting this beer warm too much does start yielding some onion (garlic) notes.

I actually loved the feel of this beer more as I drank it. Carbonation is medium light, definitely taking a backseat to the flavor, and properly accenting it. Only a light drying effect lasts on the tongue, leaving a pleasant memory of what you had, but not demanding you remember it.

Oh, but I will remember it (ok, this brewery does one-offs, so maybe not). I hesitate giving a one-time beer I had AT the brewery such a high score, but I can only go off what I have. But I can also say this: your mileage may vary.