I Don't Like Mondays.
Fat Orange Cat Brew Co.

 

 

 

 

 

I Don't Like Mondays Fat Orange Cat Brew Co. IPA New England / Hazy

Straw haze on golden earthy grains, crisp and smooth with melon, red fruits, stone fruit style
and pine hop complexity with a dry, earth toned finish. Crazy easy and delightful.

Purchased at Elm St Market >

4.00

 

Copper colored with a hazy complexion. There’s a fingernail of off white around the rim and covering three quarters of the top. The aroma is of clementine oranges. It tastes exactly like clementines and citrus. The mouth is very smooth and quaffable.

 

 

Pours a clear amber with plenty of foam in the Rodenbach goblet. sudsy and sharp on the tongue. Pleasant aroma of mango and citrus. Tastes of orange marmalade with green beans. Bitter aftertaste with candied grapefruit peel. Gets dark with too much of the compost pile. I'm tired of finding something good to say about it.

Just to set the record straight, this is another creature of Twelve Percent LLC of North Haven, CT. Apparently they do do of their own brewing, but this can says "Distributed by Twelve Percent LLC." But also "Brewed by Fat Orange Cat Brew CO Stratford CT." Now Stratford is not close to either FOC's address in East Hampton or 12% in North Haven. BUT what is in Stratford is Two Roads Brewing, which has an active contract brewing program. So whatever the truth of "incubator" or "collective" I think this FOC beer is contract brewed by the 19th largest Independent craft brewery in the US.

Poured out clear amber with some slight head retention.
Real nice smell of oranges.
Taste of orange, pine bitterness but not too bitter.
Has a nice hop edge and moderate carbonation.
Better than I was expecting.

 

The hops spring to life on the middle palate with a burst of apricot and mango with suggestions of tangerine and red grapefruit to follow. Smells of some surprisingly faint floral and fruit hops - tangerine, lemon, pineapple, grapefruit. Some malt, vanilla and bread as well.

 

Batch 010, poured from a 16oz can into a can-shaped nonic. Pours out very clear for a NEIPA with a very slight haze and a large off-yellow head. Fairly fruity and juicy with some nice notes of citrus and generic tropical fruit as well as some smooth, dank berry character from the Mosaic. Balanced and enjoyable and refreshing, easy drinking.

 

 

 

these cats (see what i did there?) have really built a name for themselves in a short time, obviously the distribution channel helps, but they are making some beer worthy of nationwide drinking too i reckon, this is a pretty robust brew, and the art on the can would never sell it to you, well, me, but you know what i mean, its lazy and childish looking, the brand sold it to me, and i am glad it did, although this tastes a little less than fully fresh, no surprise coming to idaho, but still. almost a faint brett nose setting in through the creamy thick off white head and slightly cloudy orange body, maybe not quite orange, maybe bronzed. anyway, it smells like there is a little yeast component to it, and i like that in this style, mostly dry hopped, but not one dimensional, that rules. i know the name is orange cat, but i literally see it as orange colored and taste oranges, i smell them too, tangerines maybe, but orange citrus for sure, some citra hops likely in this, but there are others, faint cantaloupe suggests el dorado to me, even something southern hemisphere, but this is all speculation. i like the funk, its super subtle and even if its unintentional, i like it. just slightly more than minimal on the grain side, a bit of a residual hop burn, but its mellow too and balanced by some last second sweetness. cool flavors here, unconventional even for the style, and another good one from these guys. i sure wish they were a little cheaper, but you cant say it isnt good...