Festive Ale
Willimantic Brewing Co.

 

 

 

A - poured with a small head of offee white foam on a hazy, golden brown body. Good retention and lace.

S - pine and orange hop flavors with some caramel malt.

T - lots of caramel and sweet, orange flavored hops up front. The caramel intensifies in the middle and it is accompanied by toffee and fairly strong bitterness in the finish.

M - medium thick body, moderate carbonation and a sweet finish.

D - this is a dipa of the dark, sweet east cost variety. It has some characteristics that almost make it a barleywine, but just avoids that with its bright, hoppy aroma.

On-tap at the brewpub.

A: The body is orange-amber and as clear as any Willibrew IPA I've ever seen; on top rests a solid layer of creamy off-white head that leaves tons of lace. Excellent.

S: Fresh, vegetal, and citrusy hops. Quite simple, direct, and enjoyable.

T: Follows the nose. This one tastes like raw, dank hops - stem, seed, and all. Solid bitterness on the finish, low malt character. Enjoyable throughout, but unremarkable.

M: Creamy and smooth, with a fairly substantial body considering its relative lack of maltiness. Great.

O: I've always preferred the single IPAs to the DIPAs here, but I definitely liked this far more than the Commemorative IPA that I drank alongside. The Citra really gave it some nice zip, although it never quite made me sit back and go, "wow."

Cheers!

Draught @ Brewpub. This one poured a dark, cloudy golden color (although it was a little dark in the restaurant). There was almost no head but some lacing. The aroma had lots of citrus, and a bit of pine. It was fairly full bodied, and had a very smooth texture. There was an underlying sweetness nicely balancing the hops. Very well done.

Straight from a growler, this bad boy pours with a glowing golden amber topped with a frothy coating of ivory offering.

Scents are boozy and bready with a rum pudding hint of fruit cup and copper penny.

First swigs: Bold husky grain met with a fistful of hop punch a la English and American styles. Well balanced styles. Falls onto the sword along the side of English. Could it be East Kent Goldings?

Last swigs: A worthy growler that did some serious justice. Glad I grabbed it.

Beer is good. Happy beering.