Amulet Sour IPA
Hudson Valley Brewery

 

 

This beer is purple. It is fully opaque purple and it smells like gummy bears. Poured from tallboy into pint glass.

No head or lacing, but a nice ring. I cannot stress this enough: it is PURPLE. Straight up. Gummy bears and ice cream and berries on the nose. All lovely things. Very sour-forward. Heavy blueberry notes, some hops. Cannot taste or smell the advertised hibiscus, but I'm not mad. Much more a sour than an IPA. Pleasant, smooth and medium bodied, easy drinking. No notes! Having a great time.

 

You really get to get everything that goes into HVB's most hyped productions with this beer. It's not their best, but you can just tell its where they really start to cook their true blockbusters. At 7% it's not one of their "Double Sour IPAs" but it has such a full flavor profile that the mind struggles to process all of the subtle facets. The only negative thing I can say is that it has a somewhat heavy feel. Highly recommended for those who want to understand the basic building blocks of Hudson Valley Brewery's hyped sours. It starts at Incandeza, it goes to Amulet, then it evolves into whatever they want to charge $24+ per pack and that price point is just worth it.

 

 

It's a bit of a struggle to get all of the contents of a pint can inside a clear glass Imperial pint mug. There's foam and we've seen that before. At least, this isn't among the worst offenders. The foam is lightly pink-violet and it rests on top of a liquid almost as dark purple as grape juice. It leaves almost no glass lacing, nor will the brew. There's a solid blueberry aroma and it's nicely backed by the hibiscus. The taste is a good blend of the two contributing flavors, with the blueberry dominating the finish. It's mildly tart and not very sour at all. Neither does it bring any of the hoppiness expected from any style of IPA. No doubt, the lactose softens things and contributes greatly to a rich and smooth body. It doesn't add too much extra sweetness, but it adds just a little stickiness to the mouthfeel. This is full flavored, so you better like blueberries augmented with hibiscus should you give it a try.

No canning date. Can to wine glass.

L: Pours a dark purple with a foamy light purplish head that leaves a bit of lacing. Plenty of floaters in the bottom third of the glass.

S: Light smell of fresh blueberries mixed with hints of hibiscus and some hoppy notes.

T: Blueberries, hibiscus and vanilla. Tart with a fruity sweetness. Slightly hoppy.

F: Fruity and creamy. Medium carbonation.

O: Very good Sour IPA that tastes like liquid blueberry icecream. Tart and sweet notes are balanced very nicely here and both fruits and hops are clearly present.

Look: Rich garnet. A flirtatiously purple head of about one inch. Highly opaque with little internal carbonation.

Smell. Blueberry nutragrain bar. Vanilla. The flaked out abs blueberry are very strong. A lovely smell.

Taste: follows the nose to a t. This is what Hudson valley does best. Not as tart or sour as I was expecting. The drinking on this is very easy. A more noticeable malt/hop profile than I was anticipating. A solid cracker finish. A hint of maple at the end?

Mouthfeel: just a tad syrup-like but that’s likely due to a poor pour on my part. Creamy and cloudy.

Overall: this is what I’ve been missing in a Hudson Valley sour ipa. Could easily indulge in many more of the supply made it so!

 

 

 

A- 16oz can pours into a becher glass with a deep purple-red hue and a blue-pink cap that has a fine foamy texture. The head peaks at a finger high with very good retention. Plentiful lacing in sheets all around the glass.

S- I am getting mostly the hibiscus and then the berries and when they mix together and with the sourness it becomes akin to a raspberry or tart berry cocktail. The blueberry is distinct and that is pretty impressive as those can get lost in many brews. Blueberry yogurt is a very good description. You get some stone fruits and citrus in the backdrop from the hops.

T- I really feel like everything comes together quite nicely here. The berries and the hibiscus lead things off again with a mild to moderate tartness with vanilla, oat, citrus hop and raspberry-esque notes following that up. Again it comes off like a blueberry-raspberry yogurt.

MF- Silky and soft medium bodied brew with a bit of an oily slickness and a moderately tart finish. The oats lend a nice smoothness and some heft and the carbonation is at a low-medium level.

Not usually a huge fan of these types of brews but the blueberry and hibiscus is wonderful here with just enough sourness and hops to compliment them well.