Velouria
Homage Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

Straight pour from a 32oz crowler to a tall, narrow pint (Green Cheek nucleated flute). This was filled four days prior at the brewery. It’s been refrigerated consistently—damn solid drinking conditions.

Appearance (4.25): Three solid fingers of gurgling, meringue-like foam rise off of the pour, capping a murky, dark yellow body. It looks like juice with a big, frothy head. And, that head dies down very slowly, giving way to thick, foamy peninsulas and cays of decaying lace and a pock-marked cap on the surface of the body.

Smell (4.5): A pungent mixture of papaya and passionfruit slink out of the glass, filling your nasal cavities with perfumy, nectar-like fruit and floral tones. A very slight hint of dank resin slips in beside a thick, syrupy aroma of overripe mango—which is lightened up just enough by macerated orange leaves and bright, sauvignon blanc-like passionfruit. Fuck. Yes.

Taste (4.0): Here, the beer’s character pivots from big, thick, and juicy to lean, bitter, and bright. There’s still plenty of tropicália happening on the palate, but it’s accompanied by yellow grapefruit zest, big herbality that almost recalls mint, and a touch of pine resin. The malt here is lean and grainy, like a highly attenuated saison, but creamier than that. It leaves plenty of room for the hops to move from a quick flash of lime oil, to a light tropical smoothie, to a lasting herbal/zesty bitterness. It leaves a bright, effervescent sunset that kind of dissipates slowly, leaving no trace of booze but plenty of drying hop oils.

Mouthfeel (4.0): Carbonation washes lightly over the palate with a light blanket of prickles, before the creamy, slightly chalky body drapes itself heavily, only to dissipate its weight by intermixing with big, soft foam. It’s soon wiped away drying hop bitterness, leaving almost no trace of a beverage on your palate. It’s way too drinkable, in that way—the bitterness and hop character may discourage quick drinking for non-hopheads, but the way it cleans up after itself invites the next sip far sooner than you’re expecting.

Overall (4.0): This is a very, very good NEIPA. Really, this beer is NEIPA all the way. It’s not as bombastically juicy as the best examples (looking at you, Foam and Grimm DIPAs), but it’s got the look, feel and smell of great NEIPA. That said, it’s incredibly drinkable at the same time. That being the case, it’s not an upper-echelon example of the (sub)style in my opinion, but it’s very solid and tells me Homage has a good handle on the style—and shows a lot of promise. Recommended.