Green Branch
Half Acre Beer Company

 

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $4.99. Canned on 2/16/2021, so this is just over 6 months old.

Look: It pours out a deep orange color with a turbid haze. Has a small off-white head clinging to the rim of the glass.

Smell: Interesting combination of citrus, tropical, and herbal/grassy notes. Notes of orange peel and grapefruit, along with some papaya and vegetal/herbal notes.

Taste: Very interesting flavor profile. It's bold and intense up front with its fair share of bitterness. Has a slight acidity that helps the flavor probile along. Then the finish is surprisingly not so bitter, with a bit of resin, but predominantly coconut/creamy notes along with lots of lingering grapefruit pith. It's tasty and very different from most of the other double IPAs I have had. This is a very hoppy beer and not for the faint of heart, but it's by no means unapproachable.

Feel: Medium to full mouthfeel with a somewhat creamy mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is a bit chewy and oily, packed with hop resins and manageable bitterness.

Overall: This is what Half Acre does, along with all of the other beers that they make that they do so well. They do a great job with the double IPAs, which a lot of the time I don't really like but I usually like the ones they make. Given that this beer is six months old, it's still showing very well. It has a really nice creamy/coconutty finish. Impressive!

From the website:
Green Branch Double Dry Hopped Double India Pale Ale. High impact, full-on, pungent 8% DIPA. Citra, Idaho 7, & Sabro all pack-in for a sensory pressure test. A creamy grapefruit, pineapple, star fruit, IBU shakedown with hop selection table transparency. This is certainly black diamond IPA, so prep for moguls and leave the kiddos running pizza, french fry-runs on the bunny slope.

Poured chilled from a can into a willybecker
Color is golden amber with thick haze white head with good retention and fine bead
Smell has a fruity scent with lemon rind and slight grapefruit with mild pine-like aroma.
The feel is great with smooth bitterness with mild herbal texture There is moderate bitterness with mild sweetness with low alcohol and semi-dry finish
The taste has a mild astringency with zesty citrus flavor in hops yet light tangeine tang and subtle piney accent with a low acidity and mild malt sweetness in the back with subtle peppery element. The fruitiness is low in yeast yet flavor of tropical juiciness in hop profile with pineapple and mild grapefuit accent that is mixed with slightly vegetal hop in the back.
This a great Imperial Ipa with dry hopping adding to the overall enjoyment with variety of hop tastes in the citrus and tropical range that are well executed and the alcohol is so subtle it makes a very enjoyable hoppy and unfiltered ale

 

 

 

 

12 fl oz can:

Juicy, tasty, and balanced.

Coating and soft on the palate. Powdery too.

Hop profile is mellow.

A drinkable, likable brew from one of Chicagoland's best.

B / GOOD

So, it begins with the pour of a pint can into a clear glass liter mug. The color is blond to strawberry-blond, with some modest, but enduring head and lacing within the glass. The aroma is good balance of malt and hops, with a hint of yeast. Although a little thinly bodied, the taste is rather complete for an IIPA. There is a malty sweetness, which is not dominant, but serves as a good backing for the hops. The hoppiness is complex enough to run from slightly juicy at the forefront, to earthy and dry at the finish. It's never overly bitter, but it does have a mild bite. This is one of the better Imperial American IPAs.

 

 

16oz can
thanks to Ken for giving me a can to try!
date stamped 02/18/21
L: opaque & hazy yellow-orange body; foamy off-white head holds good retention
S: zesty citrus, grassy green hops, tropical fruit
T: bold and zesty; grapefruit, guava, pineapple, pine, green grassy hops
F: full resinous body, soft carbonation, bitter prickle of pungent pine lingers and burns the back of the tongue and throat
O: loads of flavor and I appreciate its bitterness

 

I don't typically agree with comments like this, but here is a beer that really benefits from being pretty fresh. After a month or so, the softness and balance both start to degrade, with more bitterness and resin emerging. Still good, but it brings out more of the weedy and cilantro notes that are divisive about Sabro hops.

Tasted in a Spiegelau IPA glass from a one pint can on March 4, 2021.

 

Pours a chalky pale yellow that fits quite appropriately within the current meta. Dense enough that shining a light through it not only doesn't pass the light, but there's a definitely dark spot in the middle just based on the density. Massive rocky white head with lovely lacing, and persistent retention.

Nose is heavy with pine sap. I get a touch of citrus maybe, there's some pineapple lurking underneath, and perhaps some hop spiciness, as well, but this almost smells like my parents' woodshed.

Taste trends back closer to I'd expected when I cracked it open, as the pineapple plays up more, though there's still a fair amount of bitter pine running through the whole thing. I find that quite appealing. Finishes somewhat dry to go with that pine bitterness.

Pillowy soft feel to it, with carbonation so small it's less individual pricks and more just kind of a pokey blanket. The bitterness of the finish lingers pleasantly.

Much appreciation to @FBarber for sending this my direction during NBW BIF #13! Thanks Frank!

2/18/21 date on can bottom. Someone apparently likes to kayak - I prefer canoes myself.
The look is very NEIPAish - unfiltered and adjunctified to the point of appearing thick and spoonable. Great lace and cling from the dense white head that persists atop the glowing peach hued "liquid".
Aroma is sweet citrus and pineapple with very pleasing malted grain notes. Not a huge blast of hoppy smells for "double dry hopped" just 2 months in the can but aromatic it is.
The flavor is well balanced, the scale tipping to the hops side with strong fruit and floral character and a firm pine needle and green grass bitterness from middle to back.
Sweet and toasty malt lends body and complexity as well as a rich, lush medium - full mouth feel.
The finish is dry and peppery with notes of orange peel and only a hint of alcohol to tingle the throat on the way down.
A solid IPA and despite it's putty like appearance it drinks more like an old school IPA/2XIPA than a NE hazy type.

 

Hazy beeswax color, poured from a can with a nice half inch head that faded fast. Not much on the nose - hops and a little citrus. Thick and chewy, more astringent than sweet with a lingering bitter dryness. Flavors of grapefruit rind, bubblegum, with tart flavors that linger past the pine of the hops. It's good, but nothing stands out here. It's a hazy DIPA but even the other designation as double dry hopped doesn't bring the hop profiles to the front, since the main impression I get after repeated sips is sour. It also cost $18 for a four pack, so it is a super premium price, and a lot of that investment is lost if you don't like sour citrus rinds. Better DIPAs sold at a normal price are out there in my book.