Hop Tart #4
Flying Dreams Brewing Co.

Draft at brew pub Marlborough
Giant pillowy Belgian rocky head great retention and lacing, very hazy cloudy bright carrot orange colour

Nose a bit of sour like tartness, not quite funky, big lemon and citrus, with a little herbal grassy hop note, an interesting combination of aromas, a little doughy wheat, lemon cereal

Taste big lemonade, harness and a little sour but not super, creamy lacto funk and little yoghurt, as well as mild doughy wheat and cereal, again lemon fruity pebbles cereal, little herbal grassy with the lemony hops as well and a touch of bitterness, hops getting fairly leafy and grassy late, big lemon zest too, finishing with typical Berliner dry bready grainy finish, not flemmy but a little tart, more lemon and grassy finish some bitterness

Mouth is med to lighter bod, a little creamy, lighter carb

Overall pretty good, tons of lemon zest, good sourness, enjoyable

Picked up a four pack of this at the brewery. My first foray in to their cans. I've loved every Hop Tart so far so hopefully this is just as good as the previous three that were in bottles.

A - Poured a nice slightly hazy golden yellow hue with a one finger head that fades to leave light lacing and a good thin blanket with a creamy halo.

S - Aromas of grassy hops, little bit of tropical pineapple, decent amount of creamy wheat and light lemon. The lactose is nice, however, I get flashes of an almost spoiled milk aroma that is really invasive. Very strange and unappealing.

T - Taste is loads of powdered sweet tarts, tons of wheat going on, almost a toasted wheat like flavour too. Really bright lemons and acidity, decent amount of almost green pineapple. The finish though has a decent amount of lingering bitterness that coats the tongue. I really, really like the tartness going on here as well as the greener pineapple, the creamy wheat is nice as is the lactose, but the bitter finish is a bit unpleasant.

M - Mouthfeel is lighter carbonated, crisp, however it is on the slick/flemmy side. Previous Hop Tarts managed to dodge that bullet that can occur with this style but this one does not.

O - Overall this was a somewhat disappointing beer. I look forward to Hop Tart every year but this time around it's really not on the same level as other batches. The wheat comes across as almost toasty and that creamy yogurt type of note comes across as more on the spoiled side. Finally, the lingering bitter finish also is a far cry from the almost juicy fruity finish that other years have had. A shame. I'd give this a try again on tap thought just to see if maybe the can affected things.

Serving Type: Can