Mountain Shine
Barebottle Brewing Company

 

 

new england double ipa featuring the newly named elani hop, which i think has a bright future, if this impressively bright and juicy ipa is any indication, my first beer from these guys too, very impressive specimen! sunny colored pour with uniform haziness but not super thick or dense or starchy looking, especially for a double, a full puffy inch of lasting white foam adorns it, and this looks well refined for the stye for sure. the elani hops are intriguing, and they jump right out in the aroma, strong sweet orange right away, even an almost essential oily character to it, very summery, hints of white coconut, green grape, white florals, and ripe melon, definitely new school, this hop was apparently found, thats rad! grain is minimal to me in the aroma, way back, dry cereals with some wheat likely, clean ferment, simple in the best possible way to really feature the hops, very professional execution is evident. a pear note up front in the flavor, honeycomb, papaya and mango tropical notes, juicy all the way without being cloying or forced, kiwi and melon as it warms, just a hint of pale malt sweetness from the grain, super soft even plush feeling, holds the hops up really well. layers of fuzzy peach, pineapple candy, coconut water, and daffodil, so good! these hops have some familiar aspects but also on the whole are very new and bring something quite special to this beer, and im sure whatever other beers they end up in, which will be a lot, because this profile is wicked. credit to barebottle brewery too, this is fire beer and its not just because the hops are awesome, the proportions are grain, the mouthfeel is perfect for these fruity flavors, and the ferment is super tidy. loved this, perfect for this time of year too, no sign of its strength, high carbonation, fluffy and light to drink for what it is. elani is the future!