DDH Empress
Great Notion Brewing

On tap at Great Notion Alberta. Poured a cloudy, golden hue with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sudsy lacing. It smelled of pineapple, grapefruit, orange peel and toffee. Sweet toasted caramel with tropical fruit and a sharp bitterness.

 

this one was a little raw to me, less refined than their best, i feel like they try so hard to push boundaries here that sometimes these beers come out a little sloppy or forced, and this is the case with this one, much as the citra and motueka go expertly well together, it just feels all packed in a little too tightly to a base beer not quite able to handle it all. milky and starchy and close to still looking after a second from the tap, really dense, pale, and dull to me, heavier than i generally look for in these. juicy in the nose no doubt, and awfully intense for citra, which rarely hits at this potency for me, but also green and with some burn coming i can tell, starchy on the grain side, maybe slightly yeasty too, just a big rough around the edges and untidy, given what these guys are capable of at their best. the flavor is tasty, no denying these hops form a nice pair, hints of lemongrass, white grapefruit, and yellow peach come to the fore, but its tied up with a vegetal bite that lingers past the swallow and feels a bit harsh, over the saturation point to me, much as its fresh and yummy at the same time, its pushed a little far in my opinion. the body is real full, soupy and earthy, at least its dry, but this is heavy to drink anyway, especially without much carbonation activity, and its weighty in my belly. unique hop flavor to this, synergistic for sure, but also a bit too much. modern and even kind of advanced, but not my favorite of their hoppy ones...

 

Poured from a can dated 1/5/23

Thick grapefruit juice color, thin quickly dissipating head. No lacing or cap

Aroma of over ripe pineapple, lemon, apricot and a bit floral

Taste is mostly pineapple and citrus, some stone fruit notes

Mouthfeel is creamy and chewy up front and finishes kind of prickly

For a double dry hop pale ale it's fairly smooth drinking and has a slight finishing sting. Nice beer.

 

Really nice new-school hazy here; milky golden pour with a quickly-receding head, strongly hoppy nose full of tropical and citrus fruits, zippy and zingy. The palate is the same, showing Southern Hemisphere influence reminiscent of Nelson; white wine spritzer, boozy orange mimosa, grapefruit pith. Stronger bitterness with that yeasty DDH mouthfeel. Overall, very enjoyable to me.