Around The Clock
Roak Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smooth!

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Roak's Around The Clock a couple days ago for $1.79 at The Lager Mill. I was in the mood for a session IPA tonight and I thought I would give this one a try and it's my first beer from this brewery, so lets see how it goes. 2015 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pin glass.

A- The label looks nice, it's got a nice design to it and it 's just a little eye catching. It poured a nice yellow color that took on more of a golden orange color when held to the light with almost a finger and a half worth of bubbly off white head that died down to a thin layer that eventually faded away and left some spotty lacing behind. This a pretty nice looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart a soapy hop aromas with some light piney, green and fruity hops showing up in the background. Up next comes some doughy yeast with a pretty watery aroma with only a slight grainy aroma coming through. This beer had a decent aroma, but I wish it was a little more balanced.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart the same aspects that they did in the aroma, but this time no single type of hops seems to show up the most. Up next comes some doughy yeast with that same watery aspect that I got in the aroma and it takes over the finish with pretty much no malt flavors co ming through and it had a medium amount of bitterness with that same hop combo showing up on the finish with each aspect showing up evenly. This beer isn't that great tasting, it's like hoppy water.

M- Fairly smooth, clean, crisp, slightly prickly, medium bodied with a higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but I wish it wasn't a little prickly.

Overall I thought this beer wasn't that great and it wasn't a great example of the style, the hop profile wasn't bad, but when it came to the malts they were pretty much nonexistent and that made this beer taste more like hop water than a proper session IPA. This beer doesn't have good drinkability, one is more than enough for me, no way I would want another. What I like the most about this beer is the appearance, this is a pretty nice looking beer, what I liked the least about this beer was the taste and drinkability, they both really held this beer back. I wouldn't buy this beer again and I would recommend it, in fact I think it should be avoided. All in all I wasn't impressed with this bee r and it isn't really what I look for in a good example of the style. It didn't make for a good first impression for this brewery and it's below average for the style. Better luck next time guys, this beer needs some work.

 

This beer is decent....not outstanding. The beer poured a hazy yellow with thin white head that is leaving a lace. The scent and taste are slightly bitter. The Mouthfeel is lighter in body with smooth carbonation. Overall it's ok.

 

I feel like I am missing something when I drink this beer, maybe because it's a session.

Roak Brewing Around The Clock Session IPA.

Well now that I have old reliable installed I can finally REVIEW a beer from these guys without having to dick around on my notepad app for ten minutes of frustration. Anyway, only had one other outta these guys and it was quite solid so let us see how the session IPA holds up shall we.

Look - Pours a hazy sunset golden orange color with a finger and a half of off white head that didn't stick around long enough for me to write the thesis above your head. Top of the drink is a new experience in the context that the film is spotty like soap suds. Carbonation appears to be about moderate and non complaining. Clarity is murky as all hell though penetrable like yo momma gettin' picked up by a smooth talkin' 70's black pimp ( Had to, sorry mods ).

Smell - Floral and very apparently Mosaic hop forward. Passionfruit skins upon a hard whiff and a touch of orange zest mid hard whiff. A few more inhales bring out a grapefruit like goodness. Quite excited that this isn't another generic centennial bomb session IPA with enough sweetness to kill a diabetic.

Taste - So how does that smell translate. Number one question. Starts with the whole floral shindig followed by a bit of a nugget hop sweetness which in my opinion brings its usual orangey juicy zesty peely goodness though in this beer it is perfectly done and doesn't seem stinginly acidic ( Ahem, shorts space rock ). Bit of generic tropical juices and a touch of grapefruit as usual. Malt levels are on low but do make an appearance for balance.

Feel - Body is well round though light with a high level of carbonation that pricks all around the insides of your mouth. Gets a tad more sour as it sits due to the nugget but certainly nothing unbearable. Kind of like letting a glass of no pulp orange juice sit for a minute or so.

Overall - Well alright. Usually not a big fan of IPAs that say ' session ' on them due to a very generic portfolio that they tend to fit, often becoming too sweet and NON SESSIONABLE after more than one, but these guys seem to get it. This one is well made and on the sour, slightly lip puckering side of things. While not the standard all IPAs will be judged by, hopefully the standard all SESSION IPAs will be judged by..( Looking at you Founders, Blackrocks, Oskar Blues, ). Good job Roak, I'd have again and I shall certainly buy more of your offerings if I see them in Southeast Michigan..