Wizard Fight
Counter Weight Brewing Company

Appearance: Arrives a cloudy orange color with an impressive head that delivers sheets of lacing and show good retention

Smell: Biscuity malt and piney hop aromatics

Taste: Biscuity flavors forward and somewhat sweet with a modest piney aspect emerging in the middle; the malt overshadows the hops in the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate to high carbonation

Overall: Not sure what to make of this as the other reviewers are tasting a much hoppier beer than what I encountered; maybe the current batch doesn't hold up to the standard set previously

From a can dated: 03/26/21

L: Pours a pale gold color with a full haze. A gentle high pour yields a pillowy three fingers of fine, white head with excellent retention. As the beer recedes in the glass it leaves a mass of webbed and ringed lacing.

S: Marijuana and pine dominate complemented by floral qualities, a hint of doughy malt, peach, hints of candied orange, grapefruit, light notes of mango and pineapple, a very light note of papaya, and citrus pith.

T: On the front end I get waves of pineapple, orange, and mango followed by some doughy sweet malt and peach notes in the mid palate. On the backend I get pine and dank marijuana supported by a light floral quality. The finish brings in some grapefruit pith bitterness with continuing notes of piney marijuana. The finish has a gentle, light bitterness that perfectly balances out the sweetness from the mid palate.

F: This has a medium-full body with low carbonation. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy but is also a bit chewy on the backend and finish. There is also a very nice dryness on the finish.

O: This is a top shelf NEIPA that is as least on par (and in my opinion surpasses) anything put out by Tree House, Trillium, or Bissell. This may be one of my favorite NEIPAs. Highly Recommended!

On tap this is about as close as I've been to a perfect 5 NEIPA.

A- Tall can pours into a tulip with a moderately hazy yellow-gold body. The head is impressively creamy rising to about a finger high with great retention. Lacing forms with plentiful webs around the glass as well as stray spots, overall a lot.

S- Strong hoppy aroma can be picked up as soon as you open the can. This beer smells really nice as the hops run the show with strong dank and tropical fruit aromas. Notes of skunky dank weed, onion, mango, melon, papaya, pineapple, bubble gum and guava. In the end, this is a brew you could just sniff on for hours, a tropical fruit dank weed masterclass.

T- Thankfully, very thankfully the soft and delicate hop qualities captured in the aroma transfer onto the palate just about as well as they were represented in the aroma. Dank weed and onion pop off with huge melon, mango, papaya, guava and peach hop notes. Just a soft nectar with hints of oats, moderate sweetness and a light bitterness.

MF- Medium bodied DIPA with a texture that is between creamy and frothy. The carbonation is at a moderate level and it ends with a clean dank, herbal bitterness.

Nowadays I worry about the aroma to flavor transition in many IPAs that are going for the hazy, NEIPA profile but the magic is strong with this one and the dank, tropical nectar transfers over nicely. Gotta check out more from this brewery.

 

 

 

 

 

Sampling a cold 16 oz can poured into my snifter. The beer pours a hazy tangerine color with a bleached white fluffy head of 3 cm foaming up. The foams fades slowly to a large rocky island in the center of my glass and a thick edge layer. The edge makes tight lattice after each sip and clings throughout the sampling. Beer looks really nice.
Aroma is pretty evident from the pour with a good dose of citrus hops with grapefruit and orange notes, but also a good hit of pine sap and resin hit too. I dont get any booze and the malt is in the backseat on the nose.
First sip reveals an average body with very fine and tingly carbonation. Slightly sticky texture and a very dry finish after each swallow.
Flavor is sort of sweet up front with a bit of bready note or biscuit but then citrus hops take over with orange dominant and a bit of peach as well. This moves to a slightly more bitter grapefruit note with a bit of bitey pine sap finish. Again the ABV is well hidden and this beer is well crafted and interesting. Another winner from Counterweight!

 

 

On tap at Willibrew. Pours a hazy brownish orange with very little head. The nose is a blend of fruits with some dank hops. Passionfruit, guava and some mint. The taste is a good amount of berries along with dank hops and some resin. Resinous finish with a chewy mouthfeel. Medium body with a moderate alcohol presence.

 

Incredible beer. Up there with the very best few brews that you can find ANYWHERE in New England. Smells like passion fruit and grapefruit. Incredibly well balanced. There is nothing at all "off" in this beer - not too much or too little of anything. It manages to straddle a line between NE Juice Bomb IPA and more (new) traditional piney brews from the likes of NEBCO - not surprising given the head brewer. This is one of the very few beers that I prefer over Tree House beers. I always drink it from a tall pilsner glass because I seem to get more captured in the smell that way. You can read about the color and opacity and head in all the other reviews here. But the bottom line is that this is a masterpiece.

 

 

 

 

I really liked this one on tap, reminded me of Locust Reign from NEBCO. Not a juicy or tropical IPA but more dank, resinous, floral, balanced, tons of pith and lupulin. Very interesting beer and I'm glad I got to try it.

tremendous beer. I have had the fortune of tasting all of Counterweights brews and this one surpasses them all to include Space Coyote. This is a delicious beer with a nice amount of alcohol but still very drinkable. The tropics are felt in both the smell and taste. Very well done.