Focal Banger India Pale Ale | The Alchemist Brewery and Visitors Center

4.49/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

4.32/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Wow, finally... I've been trying to get a hold of this beer for a loooooong time. Finally in my grasp after a family trip to Vermont, and God bless my family for waiting with me.

Pours a nice frothy foamy 1 finger head that fades at a med pace, nice sticky lacing, hazy golden lemon yellow with a bit of sediment suspended.

Nose is very dank and musty, lots of tropical and citrus, a really interesting grapefruit rind and pith, passion fruit, guava, orange peel, a little unripe tangerine and green unripe stone fruit, mango rind, etc, with lots of pine and some sap, a bit of that oniony dankness unfortunately cause otherwise its' great, a creamy malt base.

Taste brings lots more dank hops, but less than the nose, some cracker toasty malt, toasted creamy wheat and perhaps oats, or other flaked malts, plenty of citrus, a little lemon and star fruit, some grapefruit pith, orange cream, orange rind, underripe tangerine, into tropical fruits, guava, musty passion fruit, a little mango rind, plenty of juicy citrus and bright citrus flavors, fair bitterness, a bit of pine and sap but thankfully no onion, a mild sticky drier finish, bitterness ramps to a bit more pine, spicy hops, and orange peel, and some cracker malt notes.

Mouth is med bod, creamy, fluffy carb,

Overall pretty good, not quite the knee buckler I was expecting, pretty good, a bit too Mosaic-y, well at least the oniony version of mosaic, otherwise nice, but there are many other better NEIPAs out there now.

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4.22/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

A: deep orange straw some bright orange in there in a little specs pretty darn easy super thick frothy bubbly whitehead

S: fresh hops and weed some citrus little bit more tiny Ness and resin goes back into some citrus path orange zest

T: while little bit a resident pine upfront it's into the nice tropical fruit into some citrus zest some more to it but it's not overly multi got that nice kind of balance of everything that you like creamy almost in addition of oats possibly orange zest lemon peel finishes with the subtle fresh grass and resin bitter end
While little bit a resident pine upfront it's into the nice tropical fruit into some citrus zest some more to it but it's not overly multi got that nice kind of balance of everything that you like creamy almost in addition of oats possibly orange zest lemon peel finishes with the subtle fresh grass and resin bitter end

F: medium plus body thick creamy good Cody on the pallet of fruit and sweet mall finishes better like fresh hops and pinecones micro plane on a bed of grass

O: really really nice good balance but it's a bit more better than I had expected and stays lingering with the bitterness longer than I thought but overall really good beer

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4.6/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.74/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

4.81/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Love this beer. Alchemist does not disappoint.

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4.93/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

4.49/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.47/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a half hazy light orange, with soft foam and a ton of floaties.

Smell is dank, with loads of citrus and melon.

Taste starts very smooth and a little bit sweet. This morphs into a great bitterness with hits of citrus, melon and some pine. Finish is long, and very balanced.

Mouthfeel is medium, quite sticky, and well carbonated.

Terrific IPA, even though I would rate Heady just a teeny, tiny bit ahead of this.

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4.2/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

500ml Can. Yellowish liquid with a decent white head with nice retention, some yeast particles inside the glass as well. Nose is hoppy as F*ck, citrus, pine, grapefruit, floral. Taste is medium bitterness, light sweetness, well balanced malt presence and hops, tasty! The mouthfeel is gorgeous as well, medium body.

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3/5  rDev -34.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

4.33/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a hazy light golden/yellow color with a soft streaking white head. Smell is tropical with some grapefruit and pine. Taste is dank and fruity with a fair amount of citrus bitters the mosaic and citra hops are nicely blended and create a juicy hop IPA. Mouth feel is soft and hoppy very little malt had a dry slight bitter finish. Loved this brew, like Heady a little better.

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4.63/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Wow this was quite the gem. Big ups to Dino for hooking this up as part of our "I'm too fat to fit into these screen printed jerseys from the 90s" for your local bangers trade.

Pours a nice honey like color, small 1/4" white head. The aroma is a delicious blend of those aromatic Mosaic and Citra hops. This is the pungency you're looking for, and I hope I'm not underselling how delicious this was to the nose.

Taste, good mix of west coast dryness from the lack of malt, barely there, pale toasted malts, big dropping of Citra and Mosaic continues throughout. Fun to drink, not heavy or taxing. Not much else to say, you've had all those tropical and citrus blasts from those hops before. Lower bitterness. Dare I say better than Heady. The beer does nothing bad, it is decidedly in that elite tier of all beer, much less for the crowded ipa style.

Would love to make this banger an every day banger. Miss you Dr. Carroll, wasn't that funny when you thought I said bangin' whores, but instead was just talking about bangin' Coors?

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4.79/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

5/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Cans were purchased yesterday from the brewery. Poured into a teku hybrid glass, it's golden and cloudy with no hint of floaties whatsoever. Honestly, I so rarely see them in Alchemist beers and I figure my close proximity to the brew location and minimal transportation and temperature shift is the reason behind this. The beer itself is intensely bitter with pine and grapefruit flavors combining with a pleasing malt backbone. The hop bitterness lingers on the palate for quite some time.

I have had many Focals around Vermont and at home- easily over a hundred now, I'm sure. None of them have been any less than excellent. It's consistent in flavor and quality and that contributes to my scoring as well.

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4.91/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

4.31/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.66/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.6/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.79/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

5/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Perfect to me.

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5/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

4.31/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Fresh can but seemed overall heavy.

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5/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5