Hip 2 the Hops #5
Upper Pass Beer Company

Canned on 1/31/19
My first H2H so no other batches to compare to. Drank from a snifter, the color has a nice copper hue, head was slight. Good haze, no sediment observed. The front taste was not as citrus as I expected in a NE IPA, more malt forward. Also not as hoppy as the name would imply. Not bitter at all. A good IPA for someone who is new to the fray. Hopheads will be disappointed.

Very west coast-ish. H2H seems to be progressively getting worst.

 

Rotating hop series, this one a kitchen sink approach with the same familiar base beer. In the past, the brewery stamped
which hops are being used in the batch, but it would have taken up the entire bottom of the can to name all the ones they used. I was most interested in the Hallertau Blanc, and Cashmere hops, but when they share the stage with four other bold hops, there is a bit of overlap in the flavors.
Amber hue with a bubbly head that dies off in a minute, decent lacing in the glass.
The aroma is slight, but attractive with some tropical notes in there, and some spice.
Flavors develop as it warms, more so than many other IPA I've had: it starts out a touch peppery and prickly when cold, but the flavors build nicely after it breathes and warms up, and it's worth the wait, as the tropical and stone fruit flavors start to shine. Given the drinkability of this 6.5% IPA, it's sort of a challenge not to knock it back before it has a chance to warm up. The brewer needs to recognize that when marketing a rotating hop series, hopheads want to be able to read on the can what they are about to spend $16 on for the 4 pack. I think fewer hop varieties would have made this a better IPA IMO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canned on 1/31/19.
This was poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a chill hazed burnt copper color with a slight transparency about it. Small bubbles of carbonation slowly rose to fill a slight cap of soft settling white foamy head. Lace seemed to weave subtly around the glass.
The aroma had fresh clean laundry, floral hops and a biscuit malt cleanliness. Pretty nice.
The flavor provides a sweet clean favorable maltiness flowing into those fresh floral hop particles. Mild aftertaste of floral sweet hops, somewhat - lavender like and biscuit malts.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a fair sessionable to sipping quality about it. Good carbonation and ABV. Brisk finish of malts and floral hops.
Overall, quite good but definitely different than the rest of the series.

Label says canned on 1/31. Given to me as a gift so not sure what kind of transportation conditions were used but the cans I received were cold FWIW.
Look: translucent amber, thin white head and some lacing
Smell: very subtle nose of pine, maybe some tropical fruit but
Taste: pine, hops, surprisingly malt forward, almost like a plainer finish. Not bitter at all.
Feel: very thin and smooth mouthfeel
Overall: decent beer and very smooth. Really drinkable. Interesting balance for the hops, not bitter at all but not sure what to think about the pilsner flavor profile. Not what I was expecting.

Canned this morning, 2/1/19, right up the hill at von Trapp Brewing, Stowe, VT.
Moderate pour yields a one inch white head over a real bright, light golden body with some sticky lacing at first. Head dissipates to a ring in a few minutes. Nice nose of tropical fruit, slight citrus, and even slighter pine with a bit of floral in there as well. Taste mirrors nose pretty well and very smooth with a nice feel. Overall, I will re-review when it's three days old on Monday, but I can only expect this to get even better when it acclimates to its new vessel. I can't wait. ;)
Cheers to both Upper Pass and von Trapp crews for this one!