El Rey Dorado
Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works

It is the ocCANsion of New Beer Sunday (Week 682) & I am CANducting a brewery horizontal of Tattered Flag Brewery in advance of my planned visit on W, 28 March 2018. Viva The CANQuest (tm)! I'd like to give a Tip o' the Wood to my local, in-person trader, tone77, for acting as a guinea pig on this one! Thanks for the heads-up on the gushing nature of this one. There may have been some seCANdary fermentation going on in these CANs.

From the CAN: "The legend of the golden king takes form in this ale generously hopped with El Dorado hops and distilled hop oil. Please enjoy our craft responsibly."; "Raise a Flag [to] Craft Beer".

The Crack! was less of an opening than a surgical procedure, requiring the butt end of a spoon to engage the vent and a knife to bend it inwards since the tab threatened to break off due to the internal pressure. There was no doubt that some fermentation had occurred in the CAN, but I did not sense any odd odors emanating from within. My Glug was about as slow & gentle as any that I have ever performed. It was super-carbonated & each subsequent pour caused more head to foam up. I left some liquid in the CAN in case there were lees present. I finished with just over three fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with great retention that left loads of sticky lacing behind in its wake. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7). 8=( I tried my best to maintain clarity. Nose was a heavy dose of grapefruit citrusiness. Wow! Mouthfeel was medium, but very fizzy and carbonated on my tongue. The taste was REALLY bitter, extremely grapefruit-y & just the kind of thing to perk up my self-avowed, self-described hophead self. Mmm. Further in, I got orange peel/rind, but just a basic citrusiness throughout. It was kind of one-dimensional, but I will take bitterness over tropical fruitiness at this point in time every time. Finish was dry and bitter, but I was not at all bitter about it.

A thanks to the captain of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 12 oz. can. This beer came gushing out of the can, resulting in a golden color with several inches of head. Smell is of citrus, little else. Taste is orange peels, some pine, hints of grapefruit, moderate bitterness. Feels medium/light bodied in the mouth and overall is a decent beer.

 

 

Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz can that I purchased at the brewery during a recent visit. The can says 5.7% not the 7.2 listed here, but I progress forward.
The beer pours a slightly cloudy peach color with a fizzy bleached white head of 1 cm foaming up. The head fades to only a semi circle of edge layer fairly quickly after I pour the can. The aroma is a bit of husky grainy malt, but more hops of a white grape or pear scent with bits of general fruit sweetness mixed into the nose. Interesting scents but not overpowering, which is nice.
The first sip reveals an average to lighter body with very fine and rolling carbonation, that glides across my palate. The physical traits make this an easy drinking beer.
Flavor is a bit of sweet malt and some light fruity hits, again maybe pear but also peach notes, and then rolls to a dry biting bitterness that lingers on my palate. The bite is sort of pithy or resiny like and leaves no doubt this is a hoppy beer. I do find it to be balanced nicely and enjoy the bite on the finish. Good tasty beer, the only thing I would adjust is to try a little bit of a boost to the body. Otherwise I enjoy this American IPA.