Hazy Birthday
Mirror Twin Brewing

 

When all you want for your birthday is cashmere, something vic secret, and just the whole galaxy, everything seems just out of reach. ...Unless you are Mirror Twin Brewing and their birthday IPA is laced with all of these hops. Cashmere, Galaxy and Vic Secret hop varieties make their way into a New England styled IPA meant for birthdays.

Hazy Birthday pours with a standard matte finished golden-taupe and carrying a soft silt with a creamy white froth. A bounty of hop aromas flood the nose with everything from tropical to citrus, herbal and melon, vinous and orchard fruit. Sweeter once on the tongue, a plush malt profile is juicy with shortcake, honeysuckle and cereal early on the palate.

But that hop bouquet translates into a bright fruit display on the middle palate. Tangerine, pink grapefruit, lime and lemon bring a strong citrus flavor while the tropical notes of pineapple, mango, passionfruit and papaya add a succulent and racy edge. Juicy with cantaloup and hints of wine, the fruit flavors seem never ending while the ale trails into an herbal and spicy balance of verbena, sassafras, green tea, fresh-cut grass and the dankness of hemp.

Medium bodied, lavish and plump on the palate, the beer's early creaminess trends malty-dry with a bittersweet balance. Medium long in aftertaste, the beer's bitterness takes just enough of an edge off of the lingering malt sugars to have the beer finishing IPA-like with a gin-like spice.