Nesh
The Veil Brewing Co. - Production Brewery

 

No canned on date. Poured into a Samuel Adams Perfect Pint.

A: Pleasing slightly hazy bright gold with 1-2 finger white foamy head with decent retention and a thin band of lacing.

S: Very dank with lemongrass, weed, pine resin and light gooseberry and pineapple.

T: Flavor is aggressive and slightly abrasive with high bitterness drowning out a lot of the hop flavor. What comes through are slightly sour gooseberry, pine, lemongrass, honeysuckle, and lemon-lime.

M: Not the most pleasant due to extreme dryness in a very lean bodied beer. Bordeing on astringent finish.

O: Nesh is aggressive to a fault - high bitterness and super-dry feel is a bit overwhelming and scratches out the hops flavor that could be there.

West coasting with the best of them. Hoppy nose, with some pine notes along a more floral and expressionistic character. The sip follows, tapering into a resiny finish. It’s a good one.

This is why Nelson doesn’t work as well in West Coast IPAs, in my opinion. That deep weedy vineous quality just doesn’t work for me with what’s supposed to be bitter, pithy, and resinous. Great looking beer (though hazy when it shouldn't be), love the aroma, and the feel is wonderful. But the flavor profile is painfully dry, devoid of flavor, and off point.

No date but the store said about 3-4 weeks old, into a wide wine glass.

Pours a fabulous orangey gold with some nice white foam, very inviting and quite clear. Aroma is west coast but decidedly new school, which I figured looking at the hop bill. Bitter orange and grapefruit rule the nose, alongside a hefty hit of dankness. Flavor is lime zest and hefty dankness alongside some white grape funk. It's incredibly smoothly bitter and very clearly following the aforementioned new school rules. There's a lot of resin and pine going on alongside the fruity flavors, and a little sweetness to perk up the gnarly bitterness. Feel is good, not too heavy, and no alcohol presence at all. Extremely clean, flavorful, and drinkable.

I should stop saying "another hit for x brewery", since I only really buy beers from brewers that I know will be worth the money any more. The Veil is worth the cash and this WCIPA is refreshing and delicious.

From a three-week-old can, pours a slightly hazy light orange. Smell is an intense hit of fresh tangerine and passionfruit. Taste is resinous and citrusy, with interesting tropical notes. Nice bitter finish. Excellent beer.

 

Poured from 16oz can into a dimpled mug. Canning date is illegible, but this seems to be a relatively new beer so I'm imagining it's still somewhat fresh.

Appearance: medium golden hue with just a little dash of haze and a finger of frothy ivory foam atop. Looks good.

Smell: a little on the sweet side, with lots of resiny, piney, grapefruit-zesty aroma. A bit heavy, but good.

Taste: even a bit sweeter than the aroma, but this lends a bit of juiciness to the piney grapefruit zest. Bitterness is on the high side, but it's relatively balanced by the sweetness.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good level of carbonation and creaminess.

Overall: a pretty solid West Coast IPA, and definitely what I think of when I think of the style. Well done.

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a lightly hazy, light to medium golden amber with a fizzy white head that quickly dissipates to sparse patches and slight lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, citrus and dank hops, pineapple, orange, mixed tropical fruit and catty dankness. Flavor is pale malt, citrus, piney and dank hops, grapefruit, pine, lemon, mixed fruit punch and some dankness in the finish which is satisfyingly bitter. Medium bodied with light to medium creaminess. A bunch of Veil IPAs arrived at a local store and it was clear that almost all were hazies, but one claimed to be a West Coast style, and amazingly all the hazies sold out, but a few of these were left; probably the only one I would have gambled on. That bet paid off; this is pretty darn good. It's not really what I'd call a classic West Coast profile, but it checks most of the boxes: citrus, pine, some herbal dankness and most importantly good, almost aggressive bitterness. Its mild haziness on the pour worried me, but for a WC IPA from the East Coast, it's different, but enjoyable. I will definitely try any non-hazy they send our way in the future. Well done.