Relaxin' All Cool
Hop Butcher For The World

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

16 oz can into stemless wine glass. Dated 7/18/19.
Look is nice hazy yellow. Smell is pineapple, citrus. Taste follows nose and stays sweet throughout. Feel is medium. Overall very good NE style IPA. My second beer from them and both have been winners.

 

I just reviewed this beer's sister brew, "Chillin' Out Maxin'," so I figured I'd go right into this one without a second thought. I mean, they were probably made to be consumed side-by-side, right? The hop bill is extremely similar (they share Motueka hops in common), and their ABV is the same... and they both quote the Fresh Prince theme song. I'm looking forward to the triple IPA version, "Shootin' Some B-Ball Outside of the School" soon, guys.

Jokes aside (and I have plenty of them, please be grateful for this respite), this pours quite similarly to COM. It has the same opaque body with dense lacing laid on completely thick, combined with awesome legs and head retention. This is just knocked 100% out of the park. Beautiful stuff.

Alright, the differences in hops are going to be the stars of the show here. In my prior review for COM, I mentioned Galaxy (used in this beer) when talking about Vic Secret. They're very similar, though I think of Galaxy as a slightly more nuanced version. It has a bit more of a candy/peachy flavor with some passion fruit when used typically, and tends to be a bit fruitier overall. Motueka is the zesty, lime-esque hop used in both and it seems a bit more apparent here. More freshly-zested citrus, in other words. Mosaic and Simcoe are also kinda similar, but Mosaic has a broader range of typical uses, and, here, I think it displays its resinous and earthy/berry-like character quite well. Ripe raspberry and strawberry meld with a bit of funky citrus (key lime/pomelo) while resinous pine backs it all up. Fresh and interesting with a lot going on. Less stone fruit than COM, for sure.

On the tongue, this is chewy and satisfying with strong flavors of underripe mango, papaya, grapefruit, pitaya, and key lime all wrapped in a satisfying, oat/wheat-forward malt bill. I think this is a bit less complex than its sister beer, but it has slightly more balanced bitterness to round things out. Feel is similar to that beer as well, but somehow feels a bit lighter bodied. I think the Galaxy hops being a bit less dense than Vic Secret could have something to do with that, but could be me overthinking things. Carbonation is good; a bit prickly and apropos, but nothing too out-of-the-ordinary. Feels like most other good NEIPAs, honestly. And, yes, this is much more in line with an NEIPA than any kind of imperial IPA. Time to fix that.

 

Pours a super hazy yellow orange with two fingers of white head.
Smells of pineapple, citrus, light resinous pine.
Taste follows with the pineapple and citrus, dank resinous notes are more pronounced than the nose implies.
Medium body, well carbed, smooth.
HB is killing the hop game right now, loved every one that I've tried.

 

Appearance - Pours opaque orange with a big soapy white head excellent retention. Tons of spotty lacing.

Aroma - Overly ripe peach, mango hint of onion, pineapple. Citrus peel really well balanced sweet and slightly bitter nose.

Taste - First sip leans towards ripe tropical fruit pineapple and peach mostly, toward the ends the bitter citrus peel and grapefruit come in.

Feel - Medium bodied well carbonated nice bitter dry finish.

Overall - Well done IPA great balanced flavors smooth and nice dry finish.

 

Poured into a pint glass. A very hazy bright yellow color with a thick white head. Aroma was tropical with pineapple and mango, along with some bready notes and dank resin. Taste followed for the most part - mainly tangerine and orange with more subtle pine and resin notes. The feel was spectacular. Pillowy soft. Outstanding.

This one was more hazy and juicy, close to a NE IPA. Very tropical, pineapple and grapefruit in the smell. Taste was juicy, nice and smooth and refreshing. It had a nice creamy mouthfeel.

16oz can, snifter glass. Cloudy, hazy peach orange body, one finger white head, thick frothy lacing, good retention. Smell is topical fruit, very mild caramel, light sugar, grapefruit and a spicy herbal resin. Solid nose, nothing too crazy. Flavour is a really nice juicy combination of pineapple, grapefruit, light herbal spice, mild caramel and sugar, but quite hop-forward and fruity. Mild resin on the backend, fairly mild bitterness. Medium bodied, good carbonation. Smooth and creamy, really nice drinking NE IPA. I enjoyed this one a fair amount and this is probably one of the better IPAs I've had out of Chicago, period.