Silhouette - Chocolate Chip Banana Pancake
Hudson Valley Brewery

Canned 10/8/18
L: Murky and cloudy with zero clarity. A standard pour into a tulip glass yielded about a finger and a half of a dense frothy cap that dissipated quickly. Minimal residual lacing.
S: Tart and sour on the nose with hints of chocolate and banana. An underlying sweetness does come out as it warms, but can't necessarily distinguish maple.
T: It is bazar yet seems to work nicely. Chocolate is prominent with banana being a close second, setting up camp on the finish. The maple is very subtle and hardly noticeable at times but it is there, providing a slight sweetness. The chocolate is like raw and bitter cocoa which blends nicely with the sweetness and banana. Banana and chocolate carries over to the after taste with a nice balance of tartness and sweetness.
F: Medium in body and in weight. Soft, smooth and creamy with a thicker body than is normally expected in a beer of this stature. Carbonation saved well, still being in moderate proportions.
O: It is unique and a novelty brew at its best. I am thoroughly enjoying it, and I see why people seek out Hudson Valley offerings. I am very glad to try and I would love to try more of the series/drink this one again. Cheers!

On tap at Coven Hoven; Brooklyn.
Milky tan; dough, lactose, banana smoothie, touch of sour; coconut cream, hit of almond, gentle banana, touch of tart, vague cocoa, slight tropical; ends clean, dry, light.

4 x 5

Weird. Chocolate chip cookie dough shake? Not love at first sight, but not hate either. Does mostly hit the concept, but not sure why it’s a sour. Citra + Azacca, especially, give much needed pineapple bite. Reserving judgment on this brewery...

On tap at Rattle N Hum West in New York, with a description like that, how could I pass it up!?

Pours a hazy light orange with thick, soft head.

Smell is sweet and sour, with notes of banana, maple syrup, wheat dough and a hint of chocolate.

Taste is quite tart right away with quite a bit of citrus leading into notes of sweet banana, maple syrup, wheat dough, like the dough for cinnamon rolls before the cinnamon, and a breeze of chocolate. Sounds weird, tastes weird but wonderful.

Mouthfeel is medium, well carbonated.

Overall, I loved this. Really strange, but really does taste like a banana/chocolate pancake. Awesome stuff.

On tap, how could I pass up a “Brunch-style sour IPA with raw wheat, malted oat, maple syrup, chocolate and banana purée; hopped with Citra and Azacca.” I don’t care much for chocolate mixed with an IPA, but this worked. It was subtle in the flavor but strong in the nose, adding nice compliments and complexity to the sour aspects, pungent hops, apricot and trailing banana. It had a mimosa sweetness but smoothed out seemingly from the oat. I couldn’t taste any maple syrup until it started to fade along with some buttery crackers, but I still enjoyed the brewing mastery I took in with each sip. HV are the shit.

 

This beer is... interesting. Not sure where to start. The color is a light, creamy yellow, with a very small head that vanishes rather quickly. Aroma is a confusing mix of tart sourness mixed with a little bit of maple and a lot of warm chocolate. Flavor is... tart banana up front, followed by what I would describe as bitter chocolate, rounded out with the Citra, Azacca, and a maple tinge. Really unique. I'd say they achieved what they were going for, albeit a strange thing to be going for.

On-tap at DeCicco & Sons, Brewster, NY

Pours a totally opaque, glossy golden lemon, capped with virtually no foam and little lacing to be seen.

Aromas of huge chocolate chips and milky vanilla accompanied by a light banana puree and tart grapefruit juice making up the background; an inherent, earthy sweetness battles for attention against a subtle, nicely integrated fruity, juicy tartness; genuinely "breakfasty" bouquet, and a bright one at that.

Taste presents subtle chocolate chips, creamy, tart vanilla yogurt, tart grapefruit juice, lemon zest, and earthy maple hanging around lightly throughout; light balanced with the tartness but the profile begins to favor tartness over time. 3.75

Mouthfeel holds an inherent dryness across the palate, with a consistent tart activity seeing it never fall flat. Smooth, light-medium body keeps a nice heartier aspects to what's still ultimately a lighter beer.

This is something else (and I doubt I'm special for saying that); all of these elements, from the banana and chocolate chips to the vanilla and maple syrup, blend excellently into the profile, while a tempered, juicy tartness adds an unexpected sort of depth. The hops are present and appear subtly as well, showing this one as a clean hybrid of the IPA and sour styles. Eclectic and really nicely done; I hope Hudson Valley can pull off more like this.

Opaque pale yellow with a moderate white froth settling to a thin chain.

Smell is banana runts, pina colada, maple candy and...yeah even a touch of pancake...? But it's a weird one.

Taste is stingingly tart at first, sort of lemony before the banana that comes, which is still like banana candy, but a little creamy. I get little hints of chocolate chip and pancake before a slight hint of green hoppiness comes out on the tail end. It's a fun concept but doesn't really come across like the source material.

The medium-light body has a tingly crisp fizz and a semi-dry finish.

 

 

 

 

 

This one pours a hazy, murky, and milky looking orange, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

I don't really know how to unpack this aroma (or taste). There's definitely sweet maple syrup, and a sour banana candy sort of flavor, with a very light chocolate flavor. There's also that classic sour mimosa Silhouette base aroma, as well.

I'm not entirely sure these flavors work on top of the sour lemon/sour orange thing. It's not something I'd expect to work, and I'm not convinced yet. Despite that, it's a fascinating and undeniably tasty. The maple does do a good job of proving a counterbalance to the very sour Silhouette base, and plays surprisingly well the hoppy orange tones. The banana and chocolate are the weird parts for me, and they're definitely fairly subtle here.

This is light bodied, and very creamy, with a good level of carbonation. Despite the weird mishmash of flavors, it's still pretty drinkable.

This feels like they were high when they wrote this recipe. I can respect that.