Funcrusher
Honest Weight Artisan Beer

The last Honest Weight IPA I had (Semi-Impressionistic w/ Galaxy and Vic Secret) was actually quite great, so I was excited to see fresh cans of this at my local place last week. Well, I think this is fresh anyway. It's a pity these guys don't can date, as their beer tends to be solid as hell, but it showed up recently at my go-to store so it's likely pretty recently-canned. Anyway, on to the beer.

Funcrusher is an 8.5% DIPA hopped with Simcoe, Amarillo, and Citra hops. Sounds like fun. The pour is a hazy deep orange color without much in the way of suspended solids. It's not totally opaque, but I would say it is slightly-translucent. It holds up a decently-retentive, consistent white head of mostly macro-bubbles (as in, bubbles that are clearly visible instead of consistent and "foamy") that leaves behind some spotty, soapy lace. Not bad in the way of legs, and the surface remains mostly covered by suds as well. A decent looking beer, but nothing too special. It's darker than expected, with a somewhat amateur-ish look to it, but it'll do.

The nose is brimming with complex fruitiness and slight ester notes. I pick up tangerine, peach, pineapple, a "white wine grape" aspect that reminds me, somehow, of Nelson, along with some grassiness and pine. Very cool stuff here. Extremely dank and inviting. Reminds me of some of the Frost stuff I've had before. The Simcoe is a big highlight here, though I suppose I can pick out some of the catty Citra and citrusy, almost-lemony Amarillo.

On the tongue, this is surprisingly nearly-harsh and big-feeling, but it's also quite tasty with huge flavors of fruit gum, peach, tangy orange juiciness, pine resin, dank earthiness, guava, and a light biscuity maltiness. The citrus being pushed here is immense, and brings back my early days of drinking more West Coast style IPAs, though this is a little less bitter and more juicy overall. Has some raw hop elements that just bring me back to those days, for sure. The first half of this went down quite easily, but as it warms it does get a little more obvious about how strong it is. Perhaps that's where the name comes from, but, despite what it may want... I'm still having fun drinking it.

 

 

Light honey color with a 3F head in a Spielgelau IPA glass.

Light aroma of citrus and orange.

The MF Is quite smooth, thicker than more DIPAs.

Excellent taste. Grapefruit, citrus, orange.

Moderately hoppy finish.

Excellent beer.

Poured from an undated can into the test glass
A - Hazy, muted goldenrod color, gentle carbonation supports a thin white cap. Lacing is abstract and interesting.
S - Peach, White grape, melon rime, hints of pine and pine apple mingle seemlessly
T - A fun little vanilla kiss in there, with all that fruit forward in the aromatics this was a suprise. The fruit parade is enhanced with some lovely apricot flavors, Amarillo I suspects. The malts a sweet and only participate as a canvas for the hop display.
M - Excellent tactile feel, soft water, sweet start, then a move to the middle with just enough bittering to keep this from being to sweet. Linger is tropical and almost fruit punchy.
A - A very good offering on the palate and aromatic, not a beauty to look at but in all other respects a delight

 

 

From a 32oz growler, filled at the brewery this afternoon. Served in a spiegelau IPA glass.

Pours a crystal-clear, pale honey-gold color with two fingers of super-soft and sudsy, creamy head. Retention is excellent with a thick webbery of slippery lacing.

Smell is faint and malty-sweet. I caught a powerful whiff of melon when I first uncapped the growler but now, not so much.

Taste is a little hard to pin down or to pick out any specific flavors other than caramel. Some sweet sticky fruit character but mostly a lot like a glass of mostly-flat ginger ale.

Feel is smooth as glass, medium bodied and maybe a little under-carbonated. There’s a ton of fine carbonation bubbles visible in the glass but, somehow, it’s not translating through to the mouthfeel.

Not undrinkable by any means but, overall, pretty uninteresting. At 8.5% abv, it does, however, hide its abv rather well so, if my aim is simply to get shit faced, this had certainly ought to get the job done.