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Hop Butcher For The World

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $5.99. No canned on date, and this was purchased several months ago. Regardless, it was kept cold and it should be fresh enough.

Look: Very pale with a light to medium straw color, it's very clear with apparently moderate carbonation. The whitish head was wispy and rocky and dissipated pretty quickly. This is pretty much what I expect a West Coast IPA to look like. Well, at least from a modern day predominantly Hazy IPA brewer like Hop Butcher at least. I would expect a West Coast IPA to have more caramel malt character from a more traditional brewer.

Smell: It has nice aromas - dank, earthy, peppery, with notes of mango, peach, apricot, and passion fruit. I've never had a beer with Kohatu hops before, but the overall profile with these Pacific NW and NZ hops is definitely giving me Nelson Sauvin vibes, which I am down with.

Taste: Quite tasty. The taste follows the nose for the most part. Berry notes come through and even more dank character on the palate. The beer has a bit of acidity and the bitterness almost feels a bit underwhelming initially (one would expect more from a 7.25% ABV West Coast IPA), and overall it has nice flavor and it's pretty easy to drink. The bitterness is building as I drink more, and the beer is quite astringent and dry on the finish with a lot of rindy and pithy orange character. If you wanted something juicy, this is not it. Pretty impressive that this beer is 7.25% ABV. The alcohol is very well-hidden.

Feel: It has a moderately oily mouthfeel and the beer is pretty clean. Carbonation is the right level for this style and ABV. It doesn't really feel undercarbonated but it leaves a slighty "flat" impression on the palate.

Overall: It's a solid offering. I have had a few other Hop Butcher beers and they weren't really my cup of tea but this one is. I am usually interested in trying new hop varieties and I'm also interested in trying other styles that are not the brewery's forte: it's nice to try lagers from a brewery that mostly makes ales and it's nice to try a West Coast IPA from a Hazy IPA brewery. Kohatu is an interesting hop - it plays well with Simcoe and Nectoron - and Hop Butcher can make other beers well besides Hazy IPAs.

 

Aroma is pungent/complex tropical hops/Nectaron. The flavor is fruit, malts, sweet citrus and a long and dry/tropical fruit/spicy/Nectaron hop finish.