Trick Or Treat Kittens
Fat Orange Cat Brew Co.

This brew touts itself as something that has candy corn flavoring (I love candy corn) and other sweet treats. There is nothing sweet about this brew. It is an imperial IPA in the true sense of the word, bitter, juicy, and astringent to the tongue as you would expect - with a nice touch of booze. Too bad I didn't pull out any candy corn flavoring...

 

 

 

A: Pours a murky medium to dark golden yellow in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate bright yellow + apricot + peach + burnt orange + orange colored highlights. The beer has a three finger tall dense creamy foamy sudsy white head that slowly reduces to a handful of small patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of slightly mottled very thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a medium thick ring at the edges of the glass. Slightly heavier than moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of juicy citrus/grapefruit + citrus/orange + tropical/passionfruit + tropical/papaya hops over the top of moderate aromas of biscuit + oat + wheat + pale malts with moderate amount of sugar sweetness. Moderate aromas of artificial candy corn/marshmallow sweetness + vanilla.

T: Upfront there are moderate flavors of biscuit + oat + wheat + pale malts with moderate amount of sugar sweetness. That is followed by moderate flavors of artificial candy corn/marshmallow sweetness + vanilla. Finally there are moderate to strong flavors of juicy citrus/grapefruit + citrus/orange + tropical/passionfruit + tropical/papaya hops which impart a hint of bitterness which fades away quickly leaving moderate lingering artificial candy corn + citrus + tropical hop flavors as well as moderate sugary sweetness.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Moderate amounts of creamy soft/fluffiness mid-body and a light amount of dryness in the finish.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and a pleasantly creamy soft/fluffy mouthfeel. Enjoyable with lots of tropical + citrus hop flavors/aromas. The addition of candy corn was interesting and worked in this Double NEIPA.

how unique for halloween time, a candy corn beer, but not any candy corn beer, a double ipa, pretty neat concept here. the can art is goofy, the label says brewed with artificial colors, i wonder if there is additional color added or if they have to say that because candy corn itself is artificially colored. anyway its a rich lathery hazy brew with a light orange but not particularly fake looking color and a full inch of creamy white head in our wine glasses, glad to be sharing this with my wife. no sediment even towards the bottom. the nose and taste are quite sweet, i get caramel, like not from caramel malt, like actually caramel, the candy corn comes through pretty authentic too, probably this has to be sweet to allow for that, but i also get a surprisingly complimentary hop profile, even sort of southern hemisphere believe it or not, like this is excellent ipa before its a candy corn beer, or at least at the same time, way cool. pineapple, peach candy, sweet orange, green pear, a pretty fruity bouquet alongside the candy corn, some earthy support from the grain, and a wonderful texture aside from the residual sugar, frothy and soft, bubbly but smooth, ever so slightly green and bitter on the swallow. i liked this leagues better than i expected to, i usually disdain this artificial novelty stuff, but this really is high quality beer at its core, and the candy corn flavor is genuine enough to make this fun this time of year, even if half a pint can is more than enough. better than a gimmick, and better than its ratings here. perfect for halloween time.

 

Pours out very golden and hazy, opaque and creamy-looking. Definitely sweet-er on the nose with a big pop of vanilla, some orange as well. The palate is just not what I wanted or expected, this leans into the milkshake category for me with just an over abundance of vanilla and a good dose of artificial sugars. There is some citrus/orange character on the finish that gives the impression of a dreamsicle but overall this was not really what I wanted.

Certainly faithful to Halloween candy, but overly sweet and artificial in flavor.

 

 

From the bottom of the can: "08/23/22 10:00"

Appearance: The body is opaque and orange colored. It has a creamy textured slightly off-white head that is short and retains very well. It has some nice slopes of lacing.

Aroma: It smells like peach candy gummy rings, cotton candy, and tangerines. Aroma-wise the beer smells phenomenal and is loaded with notes of sweet candies and citrus. It brings back memories of walking through candy stores as a kid and at times there is even an aroma of jawbreakers that comes through. It is impressive smelling.

Taste: The flavor closely mimics the aroma towards the front of the tongue; there is a ton of sweet flavors like sweet powdered sugar, gummy rings, and even a bit of candied orange. The candied orange flavor comes in both the gummy orange slices and the real orange flavor, and this tastes a lot like a mixture of both. It tastes great on the front of the palate. Towards the middle it drops off quite a bit. Depending on the sip there might be some orange pith flavor or even a bit of a cabbage character. It changes a lot depending on the sip. What I have found is that larger sips deliver the best flavor all at once with this beer. Towards the back of the palate there is sweet residual sugar flavor and a bunch of citrus pith bitterness. The aftertaste is mostly pith bitterness but there is this juxtaposed sugary sweet character.

Mouthfeel: The beer feels pretty light on the palate. The mouthfeel is smooth and easy to drink. It feels greatly unbalanced in favor of the sweet side but that seems to be the brewer's intent and it works for the design of the beer. As a whole it is enjoyable but nothing extraordinary.

Overall: The label says this is "8% ALC. BY VOL." and it does a good job of keeping it under wraps. The label also says that this is a "DOUBLE IPA WITH CANDY CORN AND ARTIFICIAL COLORS." The beer definitely has a candy flavor but it is hard to tell if the thing tastes like candy corn. Candy corn always seemed to taste a lot like sugar and this tastes like sugar so it seems to fit. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but to those with a sweet tooth it's worth a try. I probably wouldn't buy it regularly unless I was looking for some Halloween nostalgia, which it seems like this beer is trying to accurately mimic.

Normally the cat is out of the bad, but with this new Halloween inspired version of Baby Kittens, the cat is back in the bag -the trick or treat bag. The brewers of Fat Orange Cat now seek out additional cream and candy that bring a candy corn tilt to their New England IPA.

Pouring a matte finish over a pastel orange appearance, Trick or Treat Kittens starts to reel off candied aromatics of citrus, tropical fruit and orchard fruit as soon as the froth releases from the beer's body. Generous sweetness layers on the tongue like pastry dough laced with cream candy, honey, shortcake and cereal.

But once the hops gain strength the middle palate is all about the hops. With a bold sense of mango, nectarine and tangerine, a bright citrus and tropical taste takes shape. With hints of pineapple, white grapefruit, passionfruit and papaya, the fruit culmination is in full swing. As the ale extends onto the late palate, the fruit turns smoothly bitter, balanced with a strong presence of powdered sugar, strong vanilla and heavy whipping cream.

Full bodied and leaning on the full flavored side as well, the hazy IPA starts plush with malt starches and finishes malty with a mild herbal hemp-like bitterness and a linger of candied sweetness that teases with aspartame and vanilla milkshake.