Dark Hedges (2025)
Hop Butcher For The World

 

Not HB's best. Pretty typical look with full haze and a wonderful head. But this one is a little darker orange-gold than most of their hazies and looks a little thin. but that matches the feel of the beer, which is soft but definitely thin. Very well carbonated, though.

I absolutely love the nose, with huge, bold fruit notes, an attractive dankness, and a pleasant sweetness. Stone fruit, tropical fruit, and grape/berry heavy, with vineous greens as a base and some nice lemon/lime notes. And it comes at you in beautiful waves. Definitely the best quality of the beer. By FAR.

Unfortunately the taste is just way too sweet. Normally I quite like HB's sweeter NEIPAs and IIPAs. But here the combination of sugary-sweet tropical fruit juice and deep, dank grape/tomato vines is just too much. There are some wonderful fruit notes that poke through, including strong lime zest mentioned by another reviewer, and the Nelson and Peacharine definitely come through. But it's over the top and overwhelming, especially with catty Simcoe notes in the mix. Even the aftertaste, which presents some pleasant bitterness, becomes a bit of a bittersweet mess.

Just not a winner for me, as this is a good example of Nelson taken too far (amongst other things).

 

Dated 01/25(?)/25, into a wide wine glass.

Pours a dark, murky orange, copious foam. Aroma is white grapes, peach rings, grapefruit, and a little spicy bitterness. Flavor follows the nose. Heavy white grapes, sweet peach rings, and smooth dankness. Lots of lime zest as well. Quite sweet and fruity but with a decent kick of bitterness to keep the flavors balanced. Feel is smooth, a little higher body than I would've liked, but still good. Quite thick and coating.

In the vein of my last Hop Butcher IPA, it's an old school WCIPA with NZ hops, but this one is much more NZ compared to WC. The Peacharine really shines here, and it's a fun, sweet hazy that really works well.

On draft at PapPo's. Poured a cloudy, golden orange color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy lacing on the glass. It smelled of orange, pineapple, and sweet caramel. Nice tropical fruit taste with toasted caramel and a bitter bite.

 

 

Aroma is sweet citrus, spicy hops and a hint of alcohol/spring/mineral water. The flavor is fruit cocktail, malts/grains and a medium sweet/tropical hop finish.