Vern
Castle Island Brewing Co.

 

 

Pours orange yellow with a medium cloud. Smells mild fruity. Taste is good. 13oz draft $7 @The Fix in Worcester, MA.

I may have had this before at the brewery's taproom, but this is my first time having it at home! Poured from a 16 oz can dated 3/8/18 (approx. 4 weeks old) into an oversized snifter glass.

Slightly hazy goldenrod-yellow beer with very slight orange tones coming through when held up to light. Awesome head measuring about two fingers, which seems to last for quite a while. As it fades, some incredible lace show becomes apparent, with tree-like cobwebs of sticky foam clinging to the inside rim of my glass. Moderate hazy surface with some small clusters of bubbles here and there. Decent carbonation rising from the center of the glass. Overall, I like the color and the lace/head retention here quite a bit. I figured it'd be a bit hazier than it is, but I'm impressed overall.

The nose is bright and complex with orchard fruit, ripe red berries and slight firm-leaning resinous aspects married with a bit of dankness, pine and grassy hop notes. There is very little to the malt bill here, in the nose at least, giving this a very hop-biased overall impression. I'm not sure I would consider this an APWA from the nose; definitely seems more like an IPA that just so happens to utilize wheat, but I digress... this smells quite good. I like the way Mosaic is utilized here, but it does feel kind of all-over-the-place, as this hop tends to in simpler beers such as this one. That said, the dank/berry combination is pretty prominent here, and serves to anchor this in a place of familiarity to some extent; enough so that I'm quite satisfied overall. How does it taste, though?

Super bitter with a wave of pine, pink grapefruit, papaya and dank flavors combining with a moderately-chewy wheat malt toward the mid-palate. I like the evolution of flavors here; the Mosaic hop seems to lend some interesting "fruit gum"-like flavors here, perhaps when combined with the wheat/yeast esters present? Whatever it is, it's pretty cool. Slightly catty in the aftertaste, which is disappointing, but the appearance of a more "citrusy" melange of flavors here compared to how the nose presented itself also feels pretty interesting. It's not often you get an IPA that smells and tastes different enough that it gives you pause, but also feels relatively cohesive, and I guess that's sort of impressive to me here.

The feel is soft and supple, as is expected from a pale ale with a wheat malt bias. The carbonation, as expected from the rather subtle rising bubbles in the appearance, feels only slightly-massaging on the palate, instead letting the hops do the talking throughout each sip. Because of this, the finish feels a bit longer and more sustained than some other IPAs, even compared to those from this brewery. For instance, this is much more pillowy and colloquially "drinkable" than their Keeper IPA. It isn't as abrasive or as bruising in terms of straight up bitterness, but the complexity of the hops combined with the effective malt backbone makes this a winner for different reasons.

 

Look is a almost translucent golden honey with nice poofy white head.

Smell is wheat, some citrus predominantly lime and orange.

Taste follows nose with a pretty big bitter hop bite at the end. A bit much for the style in my opinion but certainly not unmanageable.

Feel is creamy and has a full body to it.

Overall, a fine pale wheat ale which falls just short of my favorite pale wheat- Gumballhead. I haven't come across very many pale wheats that I would drink again but this is certainly one of them. Castle Island certainly looks like they know what they are doing.

 

 

 

Canned 4/12, reading this name makes me keep thinking of "vern, vern vern, vern vern vern vern vern, vern"

Pours a decent thick pasty white bubbly almost 1 finger head that fades at a med pace, some sticky lacing, mostly clear some hazed golden wheat color.

Nose big fruity hops, fruity bubblegum, some melon, a little citrus clementine, faint generic tropical, touch of candied orange marmalade zest, touch of candied stone fruit, some creamy wheat and toasted notes.

taste brings biscuity wheat, toasted malt, but a weird herbal earthy hop, little pine and rotting melon, sap, then turns oniony, vegetal and an almost stale hop oil flavor, weird, med bitterness, a little sticky finish. Ok so as it warms it get a bit better, more grassy and fruity, with stick bitter finish.

Mouth is med bod, a little creamy, lighter but decent carb.

Unfortunately this was not very good, hops and esp the mosaic were really weird, base malt was OK at best, not enjoyable unfortunately, sorry Castle Island, def my least fav beer so far from you guys.

 

 

Poured from a recent canning into the test glass.
A - Honey colored backdrop, gently carbonated, a thin cap with nice lacing
S - Tangerine, autumn honey, green grape, and nice baguette.
T - Candied orange, tangerine,unsulphured pine apple, some warm honey on toast as well.
M - A bit thick, gentle carbonation keeps things on the down low.
O - A very nice offering in a crowded field. I like the malt/wheat base quite a lot.
The mosaic use shows deftness on the brewers part. Well done an offering I will re-visit.

 

Pour hazy, orange-yellow in color with 1/4 inch head. Taste is melon, lemon, and wheat. Light bodied, sweet, with moderate carbonation. Drinks way lighter than 6.8 ABV. Excellent showcase for Mosiac. Could have several of these.

 

 

 

 

Mosaic. Wheat. IPA. Sold. Pours a hazy darker straw. Aroma is strong wheaty and grassy floral. Taste is mild malty sweet with a tangy finish. Easy & smooth, it was gone before I knew it.