Crudités
Hopewell Brewing Co.

 

 

Joe, thank you. I don't have the words. Oh wait, here's some words:

A proper presentation of Crudités can be raw, rustic, beautiful, and inviting. Though this beer does not resemble the dish physically as that would be odd, it is in fact all of these things. The pale golden straw color like that of lightly kilned fresh from the fields wheat. The unfiltered glow is soft and warm. The white bubbly foam rises to a proud crowning piece and clings on to the glass refusing to be forgotten.

Green apples draw in the attention at first. An addictive and mouth watering lemongrass next. A brine like salinity with touches of wood, grass, and crushed cereal grains, and as advertised, lime peel dance together from below.

This… is something special. Brett funk plays a significant role here, but more on that later. Lemongrass. Glad I used that earlier because it's there, and it's wonderful. Almost ginger infused but sweet, not spicy at all. Green apple skins give a tart grit to it, but now for the show stopper. The Brett like funk is apparent but tame. As if the oak and grains softened it just right. Not intensely ”sweaty” nor too “barnyard siding”, yet both of these well integrated.

Citrus tart-fruitiness, oaken earthiness, funky goodness, this beer has it all. The lively carbonation harbors the tart blow, but the woodiness quickly makes it soft and warm. This beer shines. Dry and superbly thirst quenching.

The Hopewell Brewing Co. was about as far off of my radar as imaginable. I've never heard of them, but Joe knows damn well what I like. This is a fantastic wild saison, and a last minute contender for one of my personal favorites of 2018.

Cheers!

Thanks to Joe for this one!

I like everything about this beer. I like the way it looks what with its hazy pale body and foamy white head. I like the shape of the bottle and design of the label. I like all the words on the bottle. Words like Hopewell and crudites. It reads other things as well. Saison. Wild. Oak. Hallertau. The beer inside does not make a liar of the label.
I like the faint wood in the smell that mingles with the bit of funk. I like the smell of grainy malts. I like the taste of this beer. I like bready malts. I like funkiness. I like a touch of oak mixed in with grapefruit, honey sweetness and stone fruit.
I like dry beers. I like medium bodied beers. I like beers with aggressive carbonation. So, naturally, I like this beer.

Had on tap. A beautiful beer, really accents the fruit: grapefruit, passion fruit, lime, strawberry, apple, grape, and lemon. Yeast adds some funk, but even more so a soft yogurt flavor. Well grounded with malt, wheat, oak and funk, yet finishes very bright. Little thin on the finish, but not overly acidic, right amount of sour punch. Great work with subtle flavoring

 

500ml
$10.99
Open Bottle - Tinley Park, IL

Crudites is a beauty of a beer. A bright peach flesh hued liquid fills the glass. The touch of haze throughout diffuses the light to accentuate the glow. This beer looks like sunshine. The foam is eggshell white with the same sheen. It's bubbly off the bat before lazily receding to a thin cap and taking on a silkiness. Erratic, thin lacing is left in its wake. She's pretty.

Whew! There is some serious depth and deft handedness on the nose. The dry hopping brings immediate notes of white peach flesh, at its perfect ripeness. White grape skins bring about the salivation. A soft wheaty twang and melange of orchard fruits make up the malt base and yeast profiles. Pear, more peach, and apricot come across nicely. The deft handedness I was referring to comes from the barrel aging. It's fresh oak, crisp, bright, and softly sweet. The barrel aging compliments the soft lactic acidity to a tee.

The flavor profile follows where the nose leads. White peach and white grapes bring brightness to the start along with that soft lactic acidity, somewhat yogurt-like. It's got some wheat vibrancy along with doughy malt characteristics and a well rounded orchard fruitiness. Again, the barrel aging is expertly handled bringing the oak, a mild sweetness and some tannic dryness. This is a complex sipper.

The mouthfeel fits the body well. It's spritzy upfront with this lighter bodied beverine. That spitzyness awakens the tastebuds allowing the tartness to grab hold. It's dries up rather quickly on the finish while leaving behind some of that stone fruit. Drinkability is sky high and each drink brings about a yet undiscovered nuance.

Hopewell pulled off a gem with this beer. It was brewed, barreled, and dry hopped with the utmost care and understanding. It's bright and vibrant, nuanced and ripe. The carbonation and feel are well dialed in. It will be interesting to see what this one does over time in the bottle but as is, that dry hopping shines.