Fresh IIPA One Hop Citra
Hubbard's Cave Brewery

Pours a hazy, dark orange coloration with a small, fluffy head. Smells of light biscuity malt and citrus, tropical hops, with notes of grapefruit, mango and papaya. Taste is a great balance of light biscuity malt and fruity, juicy, slightly grassy and dank hops, with citrus and tropical notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lime peel, mango and papaya, with just a hint of grassy weed coming through as well. Finishes with a light/medium bitterness and some grapefruit, mango and hints of dankness lingering in the aftertaste. Soft mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

While this makes for a very nice single-hopped Citra NEIPA, I can't help but compare it to Parish's Ghost In The Machine which I just had previously. This may not be fair, as GITM is exceptional, but life just isn't. The general flavor profile is actually quite similar: strong citrus notes, lighter tropical accents and hints of dankness, but the hops are nowhere near as vibrant, pungent, bitter and well-defined here, even though these should be at a similar age, being from the same delivery batch. This still makes for a very enjoyable example of the style though, that showcases Citra hops pretty well.

Appearance: Pours a completely hazy (5% clarity) golden yellow color with a large white head. SRM of 8. (4.25)

Aroma: Strong aromas of citrus, pineapple, peach, and mango. (4.25)

Flavor: Strong flavors of sweet orange, pineapple, mango. (4.00)

Feel: Heavier-bodied, strong carbonation. Juicy and sweet. (4.00)

Overall: A nice big and Citra NEIPA. Citra is such a bright hop when fresh. This one is juicy oranges, pineapples, and mango. A little sweet, but still fresh and bright citrus. (Rating: 4.08)

16 oz. Can
PK: 112723

Poured into a Tree House glass a very nice cloudy yellow color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy one-finger plus white head, which also leaves some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is hoppy, malty, with a very nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, mango, melon, peach, nectarine, apricot), very nice diesel like. The taste is very nice hoppy, malty, with a very nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, mango, melon, peach, nectarine, apricot), very nice diesel like. Medium body, ABV hidden very nicely, with a nice little dry/bitter finish. Overall, this is a very nice beer. Orange Julius! Addictive! MilkShake!

 

This is the second Hubbard's Cave for me. As I vaguely remember, this on is similar but different.

It pours a very dark dirty yellow, tan really. Very cloudy. The stench is nasty enough for style authenticity. The taste is a nice dry juicy with citra good leading the way. The finish is pretty clean and slightly bitter.

Recommended. I'm two for two on good Hubbard's Cave brews. This one nicely bittered up by citra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single can from Half Time

I've had a few of the Fresh One Hop double IPAs and a few of the Fresh combo hop IPAs from Hubbard's Cave, and most of them have at least been interesting to drink and consider, so I figured a Citra version canned less than a month ago would be a pretty safe and good-quality candidate for a review on this Friday night. Why not? Let's see how this is.

Pours a consistent, hazy, somewhat-dim orange-yellow color with a retentive, solid head of bone-white foam that leaves behind excellent webbed lacing in tiers as it slowly subsides to a half-finger of suds. Nice legs and surface coverage. My notes from the Mosaic version of this beer last year state that said beer had no qualities that I would consider "conventionally-attractive," but this one definitely seems to be at least slightly-less-homely, to be sure.

The nose has a little bit of odd spice (nutmeg?), grassy leafiness, ripe papaya, pomelo, and mango with a hint of tangerine hidden behind the scenes. I almost think this reminds me of a Winter-spiced milkshake IPA or something. Maybe my senses are broken, but that's what I get out of it. It's not really what I think of when I think of Citra hops, but maybe the malt and yeast are doing something odd here.

Flavor profile is chalky, dense, and almost aggressively-sweet. No carbonation at all and an overly-laid-back feel makes this a difficult drink. Flavors of overripe mango, papaya flesh, and light grassiness. Some touches of spice, pineapple (in heavy syrup), candied grapefruit, and maybe some florals as well. Honestly, though, this kind of feels lower quality than it should, and I'm nagged by the thought that this isn't really a superb recipe or rendition of the Fresh IIPA idea. I mean, it seems like most of what they tried to do here is in order, but it doesn't coalesce into something that works superbly-well. The feel is somewhat muddled and overly-heavy, and the ABV feels a bit too apparent towards the second half of the can. I'm not sure if this is just a one-time batch problem, but it seems like even prior batches of this have seemed inconsistent to people so... who knows. There is certainly an element of "yikes" here that I am uncomfortable with, though, so keep that in mind if you see it around. It's likely not going to get better as it gets less... erm, "Fresh."

 

16oz can into a pint glass. Canned 8/5/20, so 7 weeks old.

Looks excellent in the glass. Average hazy orange body, decent white head shrinks to a ring and covering leaving very good lacing.

Standard dull fruit aroma.

On tasting, excellent beer that blurs the line between NE and West Coast in that it's well on the bitter side. Good and fruity too.

Mouth medium, finish bittersweet favoring the bitter.

Overall, really enjoyed this beer. Sometimes NE ipas all blur together but the bitterness matched with the softer fruitiness was a nice touch.