Hold Fast
Foam Brewers

 

 

 

This fruit salad bullshit is going too far. If you want a hipster pineapple cantaloupe flavored pseudo beer, that's exactly what this Hold Fast crap is.

Billed as a dry-hopped Golden Ale, this monkey piss is as far from all those terms as it can possibly be. Anyone who knows what a Golden Ale tastes like and anyone who knows what dry-hopping is should be appalled that this misnomer of an impersonator is even offered for sale to the beer drinking public.

The only redeeming quality about this shit is its color. Yes, it's beautiful. That is all.

Avoid!

 

 

 

 

6 oz draft pour at Lures Bar & Grille. Appearance is a weird translucent yellow/green color. Aroma and flavor feature watery malt and floral citrus. Hint of soap. Not digging this at all. Thin mouthfeel, weird flavor.

 

Beautiful beer. Strong fruit /citrus notes. Good bitterness in the finish. Drink cold.

 

From a 16 oz. can dated 09/29/22 and sampled November 11, 2022.

The appearance is a foggy, not hazy, looking straw yellow under a long lasting white head.

The aroma begins with an immediate lemon zest sensation and then citrus or pineapple followed by white bread crust or sourdough bread.

The mouthfeel is light to medium.

The taste is sweet and citrusy with an emphasis on the lemon juice although it does not make me pucker up like a lemon can do. Clean finish.

 

their cans look awesome! love the art and label shape, and this is a killer beer, no surprise from these guys, but what a flavorful and drinkable new school blonde, hoppy as they go but with so little bitterness that even my dad thought it was money. hard to ignore the quality in just about all these guys do, so fire top to bottom. cool to see this in syracuse too, glad to see some reach out of here now. anyway the beer is yellow and vibrant in the glass with just a very light frosted look to it, a head as tall as you want to make it on the pour, looks almost belgian to me, fizzy and with nice retention. so much to like about this, the nose and taste show modern hops, not quite southern hemisphere to me, but with key lime, melon, and under ripe berry notes, herbal too, fresh as they come, and not overdone, dry hoppy but light still, nothing really from the yeast at first, but in the flavor its not exactly neutral either, almost presents like a lager strain, maybe a slight house flavor developing here, not sure what they use, but its right for this, gives it subtle nuance that i love, and dries this right out. i get what must be white wheat and belgian pils malt as a base, i get some neat attention to detail on the water chemistry side, and i get a very fast finish and high refreshment value which make this almost addicting to me. subtle vanilla, white cranberry, and lemongrass as it warms, could be a citra element in here, something newer maybe, cant quite read the hops, but the profile is distinctive and gorgeously proportioned. more than a basic blonde or golden ale here, one they should be proud of, and a perfect all day drinker. great to see these guys in cans, real sharp, the beer is money! way underrated here on BA...

 

On tap at The Sheffield in Brighton, NY.

This one pours a mostly clear golden yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like sugar cookie, biscuits, floral hops, caramelly sweetness, and melon.

This is definitely an odd one – it’s got an interesting hop character – melon and berries and such – but it’s a pretty weak hop character overall, without much intensity. It feels more like a average blonde ale than something that seems like it’s supposed to be hop-accented.

This is light bodied, slightly creamy, and pretty drinkable.

This wasn’t quite what I expected – still reasonably good, but not great.

A can from 8/25/22 opened and reviewed on 9/8/22 *Strata*

Look: Totally clear gold, lazy carbonation with scattered white foam cap. Nice, sticky lace.

Nose: Strata hops seem really fruity, earthy-grassy lemon, bright reds, tropical, buttery, clean malt.

Feel & Flavor: Light feel, juicy, not really dry feeling from the dry hopped addition. Super easy, golden malt rides easy breezy. Fruity sweet and candy esque hops, like a hoppy lollipop.

Overall: one of the most interesting Golden Ale's I've had.

 

Hoppy blonde ale. Easy drinking.