Hopstate NY (2018)
Brewery Ommegang

Look: It pours hazy orange with a white head. Head retention is excellent.

Smell: It has moderate citrus aromas with some pine elements and alcohol notes.

Taste: It has flavors that feature citrus, orange, and pine. There is a flavor that is also a bit of orange rind.

Feel: It has a medium body that is quite creamy.

Overall, there are some decent citrus flavors.

A thanks to the founding father of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a golden/orange color with a 1/2 inch head and a few floaties. Smell is of malts, tropical fruits. Taste is of malts, resin, light tropical fruits, somewhat moderate bitterness. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall is a pretty good beer.

I CAN't believe what I am finding as I scour my reefer in support of The CANQuest (tm)! It would be quite the understatement to say that I have fallen behind & I have a backlog (again) as a result. Oh well, just bear with me & I will do the best that I CAN.

From the CAN: "Farmhouse Series"; "Dry-Hopped India Pale Ale"; "Our 4th annual release of our luscious Hopstate IPA, brewed and dry-hopped with all NY hops: Cacade, Chinook, Centennial, Nugget. This year we also include two NY grown and malted barleys. Pours hazy, pale orange color topped by a white head, with fruity and citrusy hop flavors."

I was anxious to Crack! open the vent on this one, but I was also a bit trepidatious. I know that they said that it was going to be a hazy pour (read Glug), but I was hopeful of at least a modicum of clarity. Towards this end, I went with a slow, gentle Glug that formed just under two fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with decent retention, leaving nice lacing in its wake. Color was, indeed, a moderately hazy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7), but c'est la guerre. Nose was really juicy, quite tropical, more like tropical fruit salad than what I would want from an AIPA. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quit creamy, but big for the style. The taste was an interesting mélange of citrus & tropical fruit flavors, ranging from grapefruit & lemon bitterness to the now-familiar mango, guava, papaya combination. Hmm. I am unsure about all of this in an AIPA when so many substyles have been created. Finish was semi-dry, but I felt kind of unfulfilled. I wanted more bitterness or even a greater malt presence since they took pride in its inclusion. YMMV.

 

 

16oz tallboy can, comp sample from the brewery.

A great looking brew, glowing clarity with a good layer of lace on top. Minty, piney, wild floral, & citrus pith in the nose from the hops ... some bready malt in there as well. Well balanced with an assertive hop bitterness. Lots of back and forth from malt to hops but clearly the hops win. A tasty brew, unique enough from the use of NY ingredients. Gotta give this one a try every year.

 

 

The lightly hazed pale dark golden amber beer pours out into a Duvel glass with a 1” foamy off white head that recedes slowly while leaving lots of fluffy lacing and patches on the sides of the glass. Sipping creates two arches and lots of patches and legs of lacing, some of which slide back down to the liquid.

The aromas include some tropical fruits along with some grapefruit and its zest. There’s also some pine and a bit of floral character, all of which are supported by some bready malt in the background.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with some tropical fruit, some grapefruit, pine and a light floral character. The bready malt sweetness remains in the background where there’s also some light, resinous bitterness.

The mouth feel is medium bodied and fairly clean and crisp from the active carbonation. The medium length finish begins as the tropical fruits, grapefruit, floral character and bready sweetness begin to fade to allow the bitterness of the resin and zest to show more as they too slowly recede to a dry, crisp ending.

Overall a clean, crisp flavorful IPA that shows that NY State can once again grow hops worth using in beer. The beer has a nice combination of flavors that are well balanced, enjoyable and drinkable. I think I may go get another so as to sharpen up this review.

 

Pours a bright go,den color. Great fruit aromas and feel. Very well made beer.

12 oz pour into a shaker pint on tap.

A: Light gold body with excellent clarity. Not much of a Head small and tiny bubbles and white.

S: Light floral hops mingle with slight lemon and orange with light pineapple.

T: lots of soft melon and tangy citrus fruits mingle over a very light malt.

M: nice good carbonation medium bodied.

O: Not really breaking any new ground here or very earth shattering, but it’s pretty good overall.

Moderate pour yields a one inch white head over a hazy golden body with some nice thick lacing. Nose of pine resin foremost with some tropical fruit and citrus. Taste mirrors nose with a finish of pine and a bit of citrus pith. There is a bit of sweet citrus flavor as well. Real nice mouthfeel and overall, a great swing at an IPA from Cooperstown. Cheers!

I like the idea of this beer better than the beer itself but it's still very good. It shows more balance and retsraint than most IPAs these days. Pine, berries, honey with good bitterness and mouthfeel. I'm happy to buy this every year.

 

 

L: Slightly hazy translucent gold with a large foamy white head. Excellent retention, and tons of lacing.

S: Pineapple, lemon, yellow grapefruit, flowers, pine, crackers.

T: Nice pop of grapefruit, lemon, and pineapple upfront. Juicy and citrusy. Crisp cracker malt with a hint of nutty oats. Soapy floral and soft pine character on the finish. Moderate lemon/grapefruit peel bitterness, and some residual stickiness. Fairly crisp.

F: Medium, well carbonated, crisp, clean, snappy, and lightly dry. Lightly sticky.

O: A good crisp IPA and an excellent showcase of local NY ingredients. Good stuff.

Tasting notes: 9/8/18

Sweet fruity nose
Juicy red hop aromatic.
Gentle but bright look and feel.
Excellent fruity hop complexity.

Not a hazy citrus bomb, which is a nice change. The malt was seriously delicious, clean and crisp. The hops were earthy mostly with splashes of sweet wild berries.
Brilliant.