Flow Switch (Simcoe, Cascade, Equinox Lupulin)
Kettlehead Brewing Company

 

Got in a BIF from TheDoctor. 16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned in 9/2018. Pours very hazy deep golden amber/light orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/zest, green pepper, light pine, wheat, white bread dough, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/zest, green pepper, light pine, wheat, white bread dough, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Very mild pine, zesty, herbal, floral, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/zest, green pepper, pine, wheat, white bread dough, light honey, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt flavors; with a solid malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mildly increasing warmth of 8% after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic NE DIPA! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV, with the mildly bitter/drying finish. Amazingly soft feel. Extremely juicy, and lightly dank/earthy hop complexity; perfect wheat/oat/malt balance, not overly sweet from lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing style example. Loved the Simcoe/Cascade/Equinox hop profile as expected.

Serving: Can
No date


A:
Pours a cloudy gold with a billowing white head. Good retention; lots of lacing. (4.25)

S:
Pretty balanced between fruity and dank hop aroma. Honeydew, stonefruit, papaya and onion. (4.25)

T:
The flavor follows with sweet tropical fruit, melon and green grapes. (4.25)

M:
Medium body, soft with medium carbonation and a a resiny, lightly boozy finish. (4)

O:
Pretty nice IIPA.
It looks fairly good and drinks well. Nothing immensely intense in one way or another. A real unique and enjoyable fruit character from the hops. Bit more bracing bitterness on the flavor but still has that light juicy sweetness. (4.25)

Poured on draft at the source into a 13 oz Snulip glass a batch from last Friday 9/7/18. Pours a vey hazy yellow with a massive 1 finger plus sticky white head that leaves loads of lace behind.

Smell is guava, apricot, tangerine, pine resin, and grapefruit.

Taste follows but more intense and honestly even better. Guava, apricot, tangerine, pine, and a healthy dose of white grapefruit.

Mouthfeel is pretty big, a nice soft mouthfeel and near perfect carbonation, a tad sticky from all the dry hopping, and at 8% ABV goes down very easy.

Overall this is a treat, really another great NEDIPA and can’t wait to dry all the different variants with different Hop pairings.

From a 16oz can, undated but purchased at the source and known to have been canned within the past week. Served in a stubby IPA glass.

Pours a dull and murky, thick-appearing, muddy apricot colour with a scant quarter-finger of pebbly suds. Quickly settles to a feeble, fizzy cap and collar with a thin webbery of lacing. It looks like shit - in other words pretty much what you'd expect an NEDIPA to look like

A fairly subdued aroma of sweet candied orange, caramel and a slightly musty, tobacco-like note. Faint but appealing.

The taste seesaws back and forth between sweet and bitter - bitter orange rind and sweet, overripe, composty pineapple. Squishy, juicy tropical fruit with mint and bitter, musky leafy herb. The bitterness dial is set about dead center. Some grapefruit pith near the ending and then a very mildly boozy finish.

Feel is juicy and only medium bodied (despite looking as though it might be thick as soup) with no more than adequate carbonation.

Overall, another fine and juicy, easy drinking NEDIPA from Kettlehead. I think this label is meant to be a rotating hop series and, if so, I've forgotten what iteration this is but, at any rate, it's got a nice leafy/musty/funky twist to it. I had it on draught at the brewery and thought it was brighter and had more pop than the canned version but that could very well be my imagination - but I'm going to go ahead and bump up the overall 0.25 to account for the difference between what I remember and what's in my glass right now.