HS4 (w/ Cloudburst)
Humble Sea Brewing Co.

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: New England IPA
Glass: North Park 9-oz. butterscotch snifter glass
Price: $20 for three Humble Sea beers (part of $80 monthly deal for three 4-packs)
From: Humble Sea Brewing Company in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Purchased: n/a; Received: Sept. 18, 2022
Consumed: Oct. 19, 2022
Misc.: Collaboration with Cloudburst; Canned on Sept. 14, 2022; Split (1/4) with Sonny (1/4) and Kevin (2/4)

Untappd description for this one was a “PNW Foggy IPA with Citra, Chinook, and Nelson.” More details were “Some intentional bitterness from our friends from the PNW on a classic Humble Sea pillowy malt bill for a delightful hybrid from both breweries.”

Poured a light golden hazy color with 2-to-3 fingers of frothy white head. Could see plenty of bubbles coming up along the sides of the glass at different speeds, looking like a snow globe. Almost perfect layered foamy lacing. Almost perfect foamy retention. (Sight - 4.75)

Smelled Citra and Nelson, with just a little Chinook. Specifically got white grape, grapefruit, pineapple, tangerine, orange peel, peach, nectarine, passion fruit and papaya. A little better out of the can. (Smell - 4.00)

Tasted about as good as the nose, maybe a tad better. In order got Citra, grapefruit, Nelson, white grape, pineapple, tangerine, orange peel, peach, nectarine, passion fruit, papaya, black pepper, citrus rind, floral and perfume. (Taste - 4.00)

Medium body. Creamy texture. Average-to-lively carbonation. Long, citrusy finish. (Feel - 4.25)

This was almost as good as I hoped it would be. Really solid overall. (Overall - 4.00)

4.07 | 91 | A-

 

It’s beige, yellow color. The foam is coarse and medium size. It smells like strawberry smoothie, oyster mushroom, yeasty, and citrus noses. The smell recalls red freshly cut red fruits. The beer is medium bodied, well carbonated, creamy. It taste not sweet, dry, lightly tart, the bitter is light but will stack to medium bitter after couple of sips. The beer’s hops character is citrusy, grape fruit peel, white grape and then follows by a complex yeast aromas like mushroom, tree stump, brie’s molds, onion bagel, that’s interesting and weird. Although it’s hazy, but it do not have the tropical fruity from yeast string. I think this a hazy west coast IPA (PNW Foggy IPA definitely is a hazy west coast literally), the malt character is pretty low in the beer, but some wet hop bitterness are obvious. The yeast profile is interesting, but I don’t quite get the subtle “fried onion” aroma in it, that’s not very welcome in a beer? This is my least favorite HS4 beer, interesting but weird.

Fairly dank but restrained aroma. Much juicier on the palate, and the Nelson starts to shine. Not dank at all on the palate.

Notes of white grape, peach, melon, and mango. It’s fairly light and doesn’t bash you over the head with the flavor profile; very drinkable.

This would be a phenomenal beer to have readily available on tap, but it’s not a hazy IPA worth seeking out via trade.