Elder Secrets of an Ancient Past
Hop Butcher For The World

Do good melons age? Not if they are hanging from the wrong tree. That said, the melon that I get from this one is hanging on a branch like it’s Claudia Cardinale status and Henry Fonda wants a bite.

Play that tune, Harmonica.

 

16 ounce can into a tulip snifter. Canned 9/20/21, had 10/26/21.

Pours a hazy orange yellow, with a one inch foamy head and a good amount of foamy lacing. Aromas of pineapple, orange, some guava, light malt, light grapefruit as it warms. Smells a little dank. Flavors are much the same- pineapple, guava, orange zest, some grapefruit, light pine on the finish, a light lingering bitterness. Tastes spicy and a little dank. Smooth, fairly dry, a very good lighter body, well carbonated.

Like it, but it’s not a Hop Butcher standout. The flavor isn’t as bright and intense as the aroma, and overall seems less definite about what it wants to be than most of their efforts.

 

 

 

I received a can from @fbarber in the NBS BIF #14. Canned on 9/20/2021 so approximately 4 weeks old. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass. It pours a turbid, muddy tangerine color with a very large, fluffy, milk-white head and thick, clinging lacing. The smell is very fruity and fragrant with orange/tangerine, lemon peel, grapefruit, and mango/tropical fruit notes. It's a big nose! The taste is also highly fruity and quite sweet I'm tasting lots of pineapple and tangerine from the Vic Secret Hops, along with lite pine, mint, stone fruit, and a creamy , sweet flavor. The El Dorado hops compliment the tropical fruit and add balanced bitterness throughout. It has a moderate body and lite, fairly crisp mouth feel for its 7.5% ABV. Overall, Elder Secrets of an Ancient Past is a terrific New England IPA that gave me sensory overload. It smells great and is delicious.

 

Cloudy yellow orange, fluffy lacing. Smell is dank and green, strong citrus notes. Taste is zesty, tangy, citrusy, with just a mild bitterness and dank resin, slightly sweet finish. Medium body, mouth watering, pleasant booze presence.

 

 

 

 

 

Canned on 6/8/20

Pours a turbid, golden sunflower yellow body capped with multiple fingers of fluffy white foam; great head retention yields a half-finger of frothy cap/collar and a chunky, soapy spread of webby lacing around the glass.

Aroma opens with earthy white grape contrasting tropical tones of fresh orange juice, and accented by a light cherry must; prickly mango, guava rind, passionfruit, and light grapefruit mark the middle as encroaching, sweet medicinal hops and overripe melon show prominence on the close.

Taste highlights a burst of candied pineapple upfront, with tangerine and raw white grape must no far behind; medicinal hops and an amalgam of tropical sweetness proceed over the mid-palate as passionfruit and overripe melon round out the back end; residual sugars mixed with a raw hop bite linger past the swallow.

Mouthfeel brings a firm medium body with rounded, fluffy carbonation and a flowing juicy texture throughout; a steadily rising bitterness through the mid-palate is in flux with the initial consistency for an easygoing, juicy, and minimally boozy finish.

An extremely well-composed NEIPA, tempered at every level despite an overarching sweetness coming to quietly dominate; this is a sincerely promising take on the style, with the few rough edges not enough to derail the beer's more simplistically enjoyable factors.

 

 

 

 

Opaque murky dark yellow with a thin white collar and lacing. Grapefruit, orange, pineapple, mango, dry peach and some basement must to the piney hops. Taste again is piney is musty with the fruits being more pithy if anything, drier tasting than expected. Getting a good bit of juicy lemon and cantaloupe right before the finish. The feel however is bright and sneaky thick, but I would not call it dry. Interesting change up for HB, points for the cool name