Keep Oregon Green
Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery

a tasty hazy ipa here fermented in oak and done with c varietal hops, which now included cashmere, so classically northwestern in a way, but also super modern and new school on the other hand, the best of both worlds truly, and the hop profile is just one point of interest in this. the oak is really subtle, its more a mellowing textural thing than a flavor to me, it seems to add a little body and roundness. the haziness is middle of the road and the color of this is a shade darker than expected, rusty orange toned with a high white head from the tap. it smells like lemons and oranges and pine trees, sturdy and bright at the same time, even a little bitter to me. interestingly, this is fermented with kveik yeast, not a strain i have often been wild about, especially in hoppy beer, but it seems well restrained here, not done too hot, and it adds a neat rustic element to this, the oak is key in this role too, and i like how dry this finishes. the hops are really fresh, spicy cascade is evident as is the fruity citra and cashmere, i like the woodiness of the centennial coming through as well, it really is a cool combination of varietals. fine carbonation, medium body, and a slightly oily linger on the finish. flavorful and unique beer from every ingredient, i didnt know these guys did hoppy stuff so interesting and delicious, this was a fun surprise!

3 day old (yes only 3 days) can into a pint glass. Strong 3 finger white frothy head, really impressive retention. Hazy and opaque, almost orange juice like yellow color. Really fantastic nose, hints of orange juice, a touch of cedar or oak, pine, fresh roses, hop florals, and sweet lemon citrus zang on the end. The taste is very impressive in this brew: all sweet orange hops in front, cascading into lemon twist, a hint of pine, and an elusive tannin note I can only assume is from the oak fermentation, and some nice rich pale malt and a distinct caramel note on the long finish. Just a very light touch of that farmhouse hay funk we look for too. Zero bitterness. The body is one of the richest I have ever experienced in an IPA, frothy, thick, luscious, and heavy, totally unexpected but very welcome.

This is an awesome IPA, incredibly well done, and in my opinion it deserves far more attention than it is getting from this small local brewery.

16oz can

Pours nearly two fingers of white head into my Willi glass, pretty pillowy, but a little soapy too. Retention is decent, a small head remains after a few minutes. Initial lacing looks very nice. Body is a murky orange brown, this doesn’t specify that it’s a hazy, so naturally I’m irritated. Overall this looks pretty good though.

The nose is lovely. It’s been a while and I’m finally revisiting IPA’s, so there is some of that playing into things, but this is really nice regardless. Very obvious Simcoe, big gooseberry, also orange/soft citrus. Pineapple and mango as well. Smells a little sweet, but it remains effervescent. Somewhat complex and very nice.

As with a lot of hazies, the nose really outdoes the flavor. Citrus rind is most prominent, maybe a touch of pineapple. Flavor is fine, definitely better out of the can.

Carbonation is medium-high. Body has a little thickness to it, not a lot. A little sweet, but pretty damn modest for a hazy. Bitterness is very low, unsurprisingly at 20 IBU’s. Mouthfeel is fine.

Drinkability is pretty nice, this is tasty enough, and definitely not very sweet or abrasive in any way.

Appearance turned out pretty nice. Head was pretty good and the lacing was pretty cohesive as well.

Overall, a reminder of why IPA’s need to be drunk out of the can, man I sound like I’m from Vermont. But really, this is a killer nose, and as usual, it falls off a little bit on the flavor. Also important to note that I get virtually no oak, and absolutely no “farmhouse” qualities here, both of which are advertised. Not surprising that the oak wouldn’t shine through, but any farmhouse yeast would, so I assume there simply isn’t any in here and they are just getting loose with that word. I’m gonna cut it a pretty big break on that because it’s still a good beer.