dHop41
Equilibrium Brewery

cool series of beers, i wish i had a little better access, but its cool some of their stuff is showing up in idaho. freshness might be a bit of an issue, this had some light oxidation fade, i appreciate the appeal to cold chain on the label, but im not sure its working perfectly. still, this is real solid, this time a new zealand hop focus, and thats obvious in the nose of this thick murky yellow beer without much head, which pops with white grape and white wine, yellow peach and green melon, its drippy and juicy and lightly herbal, even if its also apparent that its not perfectly fresh anymore. the flavor is as good as the nose, high saturation without any greenness or harshness, ripe cantaloupe, pinot grigio, and generic stone fruit. i dont know that this benefits at all from being so strong. to me, its more body than necessary, and it hangs heavy on the palate, it also seems a little under carbonation so it feels a tad stagnant, not ideal for these light and breezy hop flavors, even if the alcohol is impressively well hidden. not a ton of flavor from the grain either, but this is low bitterness overall and has cool balance. would have loved to try this brand new, but its still real unique on the hop side, i think new zealand is where its at right now for new and modern hop varietals and profiles, this stands out as original to me, a cool fusion of good ingredients and ambitious processes. enjoying all of the equilibrium stuff right now!

Impressed by this one, Equilibrium has earned some respect from me since entering the Idaho market. Extremely bright and juicy haze bomb right out of the can with a brilliant white head; beautiful. Loads of NZ and Southern Hemisphere hops here, with plenty of lime zest, green grape, white white spritzer, dankness, blueberry, flowers, tangy orange juice, present bitterness, soft malt backbone - really nice.