Alive In Its Jaws
Half Acre Beer Company

 

 

The pour of a pint can's contents into a clear Imperial pint mug began nicely enough. All seemed under control until what began as a modest head, continued to expand long after the pour had stopped. But now it's just anothe topping on a dark and dull orange-amber liquid. Given time, it left inconsistent glass lacing. Pine and citrus are the dominant notes to smell, although there seems to be some sweet malt in the background. Now that it's returned to a reasonable size, the head seems to be enduring. The taste is just about what the nose predicted. The hops work to provide a solid taste reference of pine and citrus that play well together. The bitterness during the finish is where the pine aspect wins out. The malt contribution is more than superficial, but it doesn't add much extra character. Still, this drinks good enough to satisfy any hophead and its shortcomings can be quickly overlooked. This has a very good hop presence in a medium that is better than average. The high ABV isn't really noticed in the taste. No one that loves hops will be disappointed and no one that likes complexly balanced IIPAs will be overly thrilled by this one.

 

 

Can:

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

 

 

 

 

worthy offering from a top notch brewer. Love it, Half Acre! Canned 10/20/21, enjoyed 11/19/21. Thanks to my local monger for getting it to me fresh!
L: From the can. Very stylish can. Lots of drama!
S: Lots of pine and bitter citrus. Right up my alley. Hint of peach. I can live with that.
T: Delivers on the nose. Load of pine and bitterness.
F: Rich and smooth
O: Totally works for me. If you like the hop explosion, go for it!

 

Pours a fully hazy golden orange color with a finger of off white head that sticks around for a bit.

Aroma consists of white grape, underripe pineapple, lemon zest, passionfruit, sweet pine, and yellow grapefruit. Doesn’t pop out of the glass as you’d expect a Half Acre beer to do.

Taste is Orange Julius, ripe white grape, yellow grapefruit, passionfruit, underripe pineapple, dried mango, lemon curd, earthy pine resin.

Low full body. Super soft, pillowy, oily, slightly chalky, slightly sticky.

This is an unabashedly hoppy beer for the hop lovers. I’m certainly one of them. Half Acre delivers again.

 

Picked up a single from the Kings Beer & Wine cooler 10-7-20 for $4.99. Canned 9-3-20; consumed 1-15-20. Cold stored since purchase.

Beer poured a turbid golden orange with a nice long lasting fluffy head.

Nose is tropical and citrus forward over a pale malt base.

Taste is well done with the pale malt base allowing the yeast and hops to express notes of mango, orange, and peach. Finishes with a decent rind bitterness; 6/10 on my scale.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and both smooth and refreshing.

Overall another well done DIPA from Half Acre!

 

16oz can
date stamped 09/03/20 REMEMBER THE ALAMO
thanks again to Ken for giving me a can to try!
L: opaque and hazed orange-yellow body; crazy tall and frothy ivory head holds incredible retention
S: juicy tropical fruit including papaya, guava, pineapple, tangerine
T: follows the aroma; tangerine, papaya, guava, grapefruit, pineapple
F: full & creamy, ample carbonation, balanced finish
O: so good; so many things done right with this one!

Thick hazy golden with thin white head. Aroma of papaya, honey, mango, grass. Tastes of papaya, honey, citrus with light rind, mango, pine, some sweet int, and sizable bitterness. Thick bodied with medium carbonation.

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $4.99. Canned on 9/3/2020, so this is just over 10 weeks old / almost 2 1/2 months old.

Look: Appearance is bright yellow and super hazy. Almost looks like a pineapple smoothie. Nice looking very thin off-white head with good retention and lacing.

Smell: A lot going on in the nose - very complex and expressive. A truly excellent nose. Right off the bat, this has a lot of dank and green notes. There's also a lot of fruitiness from the hops - melon, mango, lots of apricot and other stone fruit like peach and nectarine, citrus like mandarin orange and grapefruit. Peach gummy rings too. There's something so intoxicating about this nose, I'm not sure why I like it so much. It's just so full! The finish has a musty dankness to it with a distinct green bell pepper aroma.

Taste: Woa, that is a super hoppy beer. It's enamel-stripping level. And yet, it's very tasty and enjoyable because it somehow manages to balance the different flavor elements at the appropriate release points on the palate. Up front - sweetness and stone fruit, some mandarin orange citrus zest flavors. Mid palate - a bit of tanginess, chewy mouthfeel; transitioning from juicy to dry and bitter. Finish - grapefruit pithiness with vegetal hop notes predominated by green bell pepper and resin. The finish is super bittering and drying, lingers long. I'm left with a bit of honeydew melon flavor after the bitterness finally subsides. ABV at 8.5% is completely hidden.

Feel: Medium plus body. The mouthfeel is soft and creamy at times. Also has elements of oiliness as far as the finish goes and it works. The carbonation is perfect for this beer.

Overall: Overall, a very interesting and well-made double dry-hopped DIPA. I don't often care for this style so much and yet I find myself really liking this beer. It is really well made, super flavorful, and enjoyable. As agressive and hop-forward as this beer is, it is just so well balanced in terms of the different flavors used (fruity, spicy, vegetal, dank, sweet, tangy, bitter, etc.) that is really works so well in the way that the right elements hit your palate at the right time points and it creates this creative symphony. My review of this beer makes me want to revisit Cape May's Coastal Evacuation, because I see a lot of similarities in flavor profile yet those similarities did not translate in similar ratings. I did allow this beer a couple of hours out of the fridge before I opened it up, and I think that is key for a beer like this.

From the website: Bold in every dimension, AIIJ elevates a super cast of Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, Citra and Sabro upon a tempurpedic malt base. Far from confectionary, there's enough leafy braun for September weather. This 8.5% Double Dry Hopped Double India Pale Ale is our monthly specialty beer, meaning next week cans will see distribution and start landing at your local spots.