Chillin' Out Maxin'
Hop Butcher For The World

 

 

I got a 4pck of this beer from the Binnys in Naperville, IL. It poured a hazy golden with frothy white head that is leaving some lace. The scent had dank stone fruit notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with stone fruit, papaya and subtle melon presence. The mouthfeel was medium in body and had good carbonation. Overall it is a solid beer.

 

 

 

Incredible head production and retention. Body is hazy and opaque, a shade darker than lemon yellow. Head is firm and off-white, leaving behind nice spotty lacing.

Lovely but fairly restrained nose, featuring bright herbal notes, mango, orange, cream, vanilla, kumquat, pineapple. It has a sharp natural fruit feel to it, but as far as I know, no actual fruit has been added.

Less sweet on the palate, but still quite juicy. More of a green, vinous herbal balance against the juiciness. Surprising amount of bitterness, about moderate for an IPA, but relatively high for a NE-style IPA. Nice balance of citrus and tropical fruit.

Smooth and creamy, with a nice liveliness. Long wet finish.

 

 

 

 

Brownish orange chicken broth, a finger of creamy foam and some random spotty lacing. Lasting head retention.

Citrusy and tropical aroma, guava and pink grapefruit. Resiny.

Fluffy, pillowy feel with ample resiny hop bitterness. Grapefruit, orange peel, a couple drops of mango nectar. Thankfully pretty dry, it’s nicely balanced.

Overall this is another solid IPA from Hop Butcher.

 

 

 

 

16 oz can into stemless wine glass. Dted 7/16/19.
Look is very nice hazy yellow. Smell is citrus, mange, pineapple. Follows nose with pineapple and citrus. Feel is medium. Overall a very nice IPA that I would drink\k again.

Can. Pours absolute turbid hopmilk. Flavors and aroma match the look of this brew. Creamy, almost dairy flavor combined with overripe citrus mush. Growing out of this style but can see why people would crave this.

Hop Butcher is brand new to my neck of the woods, just like the past two beers I've reviewed today from Surly and J. Wakefield. In fact, everything I'm drinking today is totally new to my local MA distro area. Exciting times! But, is the beer good?

I picked both this and its sister beer, "Relaxin' All Cool," up because a). they obviously go together, and b). they have similar-yet-different/unique hop profiles, so I'm excited to see how they differ and how they relate. This one pours an opaque yellow-orange color with gold highlights. It has some awesome tiered lace and solid-enough legs, so I'm excited to sink my teeth into what's going on here.

Alright, so this utilizes Vic Secret, Motueka, and Simcoe hops. VS is one of my absolute favorite modern varietals; it's like a punchier Galaxy and tends to be even more aggressive, so I generally think it kicks ass if used correctly. Motueka is a very specific varietal, though, and tends to give off a strong "key lime" element when used with the right recipe and other hops. Simcoe, of course, is a slightly-older hop that excels in punchier IPAs with strong grapefruit and pine resin character, though it can also function a bit like Mosaic with some lighter notes of berry and tropical fruit. I can assure you, faithful reader, that Simcoe is providing a lot of raw white grapefruit rind in this beer, however. Sure, VS pushes some strong acidity as well, but the intense tangelo element here seems like Simcoe, straight-up. Some nectarine and apricot elements alongside the brutal citrus assault help mellow things out, but this seems like it's going to taste like a ripe grapefruit shoved directly into my gullet. Straight hop candy!

Goddamn, this is juicy... yet surprisingly bitter. And also somehow pretty lithe? Punchy as hell citrus with a helping of underripe mango and papaya dancing on the palate while lighter notes of melon and nectarine linger in the mid-palate. Chewy and satisfying stuff. I think the Motueka gets slightly lost, but it could be that it melds in with the citrusy notes of the other present hops to some extent. Some slight vegetal hop burn in the finish, which makes gulping this a bit tough, but as a sipper it's quite enjoyable. Fun stuff. Very excited to see how its sister beer compares. Then I'm back to hoping we see more of this brewery in my area. That's a common thing today, I guess. Huh.

Pours an opaque orange with two fingers white head.
Smells of mango, pineapple, sweet citrus.
Taste is much the same, orange, tangerine, tropical mix of pineapple, mango, and light peach.
Medium body, smooth, alcohol well hidden.
Overall another great one from Hop Butcher.