Demo Tape DDH DIPA with Nelson Sauvin & Wine Grape Juice
Exhibit 'A' Brewing Company

Golden color with a 4F head in a Spielgelau IPA glass.
Aromatics of fruit, especially white wine.
Very smooth MF.
The aromatics continue in the taste with more fruit and white wine,
The beer has one of my favorite hops, Nelson Sauvin.
One of my favs in the Demo Tape series.

 

Pours a fully hazed, but not milky pale honey yellow, topped with Two large fingers of eggshell head wirh very good retention, leaving a big collar of lacing behind.

Nose: Tons of Nelson at first glance, beneath some pale malt. Fresh green grass, gooseberry, lychee, white grape, passionfruit, lemon, lime, and feijoa. Digging deeper, there's an earthy, complex unfermented white wine grape aroma. Pear, peach, green apple, grape skin, sultan, turbinado sugar, and a slight buttery wine note. Very interesting.

Palate: The beer opens up with a moderate pale malt sweetness - slightly doughy, with a touch of oat. Notes of peach, nectarine, melon, melon rind, papaya, fresh grass, white grape, pineapple, and some earthy white grape must. The grassy and rindy melon notes begin to take centre stage, lending a firm bitterness. Some slight grape acidity emerges, with a hint of minerality, before the malt disappears, and those bitter grassy/melon rind notes take over, establishing the finish. Well after the finish, a distinct ripe wine grape note lingers on, which is a nice touch.

Mouthfeel/Body: The beer is basically full-bodied, or almost there. At 8%, the malt weight is pretty apparent, and the sweetness definitely adds to that, perhaps even to its detriment. Drier would work better here, especially with the juice. Moderate, fine effervescence, pithy, resinous finish.

Overall: I'm having a hard time appreciating this one. I know that IPAs with white wine grape must can be phenomenal. This one just misses the mark. Too much malt sweetness, not enough grape influence, and I think this batch of Nelson may be subpar. With that said, it's a good effort, and I respect that. It's just too damn sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tall can direct from the source a few weeks ago..."canned on 11/15/19"

Fully hazed, NEIPA kinda pour on the ligher side of squash soup in color and supporting a lasting darker egg shell cap and leaving ample fine sheeting.

Fruity sniff, with a hint of wood/wine barrels.

Tasty and complex brew, more bright fruity notes with candied apricots, peaches, ripe mango and grapes all coming forward....might fine creation...go get some

16oz can dated 11/5/19.

Pours cloudy yellow with an inch of white fluff. Retention and lacing is minimal. Peaches and grapefruit with white wine undertones in the nose. Medium bodied with a creamy, soft mouthfeel. Juicy citrus with sweet grapes on the palate. Peach, pear, and pineapple. Finishes with zero malt, a minimal bitterness, and candied tropicals.

Thanks to JLindros for sharing this can. Canned 11/5.

A - Poured into a Kate the Great tulip a nice hazy golden orange hue with a thin white head that fades to leave light lacing and thin wisps.

S - Aromas of white wine and slightly funky hops, enormous Nelson notes and flashes of almost intense white wine. Pleasant.

T - Taste is similar to the nose with really intense white wine notes from the hops and grape. There are pleasant tropical flashes but the vinous qualities are simply spot on.

M - Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, little fluffy.

O - Overall this was a solid enough ipa, lovely wine notes really. Pleasant.

Serving Type: can

Canned 11/05/19
Pours a medium foamy white head with moderate retention, light lacing, hazy cloudy orange apricot color

Nose loads of Nelson, some white grape skin must and citrus notes, a bit of a tropical fruit like, little doughy malt, some general citrus, sweet white grape juice wine

Taste more Nelson out front, musty grape skin and tropical notes, a little citrus, light doughy malt, pithy like base as well, mild sweet white wine, mild bitterness fair juicy, drier finish light bitterness, lingering white wine grape must, light mineral note in the middle doughy wheat almost chalky

Mouth is med bod, a little soft juicy, medium carb

Overall not bad, I like the white wine grape must and the Nelson for sure, base beer is OK but a little mineral note, but being Exhibit A I feel like this could have been much better

I guess this must kinda be EA's version of the idea piloted by Trillium a few years back with Dialed-In. Melding big, dry-hopped NEIPAs with wine grape juice may not be a super-new idea in 2019, then, but since I still have Trillium is an indefinite time-out due to their crappy business practices etc., this seems like a potentially nice substitute for such an idea. And I've actually never had a single variant of Dialed-In, so that's even better!

Anyway, this pours an opaque, deep-orange, somewhat-honeyed color with a big, retentive ring of foam measuring about two fingers at its lowest point. Great legs and superb streaks of lace as the head slowly melts down to where it now sits... this is a nice looking IPA from a brewery I don't really usually enjoy the IPA offerings from. Hoping this changes my mind in a big way!

The nose here is absolutely striking; it leaps out of the glass in a way few IPAs I've had recently can hope to match. I get an immense hit of white wine, freshly-diced mango, juicy guava, gooseberry, redcurrant, and light overripe melon. Just super fruit salad-like with a defined dank/greenness to boot. And that's not a bad thing, I will say... it actually comes together spectacularly. Slight bubble gum esters can't even take away the excellence of the nose on this IPA. Really digging the fresh tropical character here.

On the tongue, it's definitely slightly maltier/sweeter, with a yeastier overtone that seems a little bit of a letdown by comparison with the fantastic nose. Somewhat less complex, I guess I could say. The white wine grape does a good enough job here, but I am aware that Gewürztraminer is a sweeter varietal, so perhaps it got fermented out more than some other grape juices would. Some light baking spice notes with complex, almost dark fruit-ish (raisin or date, perhaps) notes melding with the red berries from the nose. Much less tropical fruit in the mix on the palate for some reason. Still dank and leafy with a follow-through of tight bitterness with each sip, along with a currant of zippy carbonation running through the finish despite the overall "fluffy" mouthfeel.

I still think EA has some work to do when it comes to actually making a well-balanced NEIPA, but then again, so many breweries are making this style these days that it turns out you have to do stuff like this beer to stand out. That said, I enjoy this more than Hair Raiser, Wandering Thoughts, and The Cat's Meow, if I'm being honest. It's fun and kinda "experimental" while still drinkable and enjoyable for what it is. They're getting there, for sure.