Voice Of Reason
Kettlehead Brewing Company

 

Yet another really enjoyable one from Kettlehead. Many of the same characteristics of the majority of their NEIPA style are dominant here - smooth mouthfeel, easy drinking, nice and juicy. They rarely misfire in this category.

 

 

16 oz can.

Pours an opaque golden straw color with 3 fingers of frothy eggshell white head. Excellent head retention here. Leaves a plethora of cobweb lacing around the glass as the head stubbornly settles into a thick blanket of foam. One of the best looking NEIPA's I've encountered.

The nose brings lemon meringue pie, zesty grapefruit, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, overripe mango and some faint sweaty onions/garlic.

The flavor has notes of lime zest, grapefruit, and lemon meringue, as well as mango, pineapple, peach, passion fruit and cracked pepper. There's the faintest idea of onions and garlic with a subtly bitter finish.

The feel is medium-full bodied with moderately low carbonation. Soft and creamy. Has a lingering spicy character. Alcohol is well hidden.

Overall, where has this beer been all my life? To be honest, I haven't been the biggest Kettlehead fan, though their beer is solid. This one is quite a bit better than "solid". In fact, it's fantastic. It's flavorful and scarily drinkable. Love it.

 

 

This is my very first Kettlehead IPA, and it seems like it may be a doozy. A nice, thick 8%-er, filled to the brim with New Zealand hops? Excited to see what this small (but hyped!) brewery from little ol' Tilton, NH can accomplish. I did get a fresh can of The Agent, too, which I'm super excited about, but I'll likely split it with friends (which means no BA review... maybe I'll happen upon it again some time, though). Anyway, let's listen to the Voice of Reason, shall we?

The pour is a typical but good-looking pour of the NEIPA variety. I will say that the lacing the rather sizeable head leaves behind as it slowly sinks to an uneven half-finger is way thicker than usual for this style. It looks a bit like the random splatters of cooked dough left on a griddle after you're done making pancakes. I know... oddly specific, but it really does remind me of that. Anyway, definitely a nice hue to this beer; maybe a bit more peach-like than some darker NEIPAs I've seen, and the haze is, well, extreme. There's no light getting through this one whatsoever.

Smell is a little raw and leafy at first, but it does eventually open up to reveal some nice, fresh dankness and orange juice with a hint of pithy grapefruit, lime, and pine resin with a hint of white wine grape-like acidity. Would not be surprised to find hops such as Motueka, Nelson, Rakau, or even Pacific Jade in here, but it's really anyone's guess. Something here is maybe a little peppery and earthy, almost onion-y at times, but overall I enjoy what's happening in the nose. It's a bit of an oddity, and perhaps a lot less of a "tropical fruit bomb" than a lot of bigger NEIPAs, but this kind of thing also has its place for sure.

The flavor is earthy and semi-sweet with a leafy greenness to it and a hint of passion fruit and underripe mango. It's definitely an unusual profile, but I think I enjoy it more than I'm letting on right now. The ethanol presence is a bit amateur-ish and poorly-handled (read: it tastes weirdly strong), but it feels like the beer's heart is in the right place. Some tangy citrus and a hint of doughy yeast toward the finish. Light and sweet round maltiness that seems to favor wheat (and maybe Golden Promise?... not sure) with a pillowy feel that coats the tongue fairly consistently as I sip, along with low-medium carbonation. I probably would not get this one again, but it's a good one-and-done. Consistently-drinkable Double NEIPAs are a rarity, and I cherish finding them. This is not one, but that does not mean it's not worth a drink. I've written many reviews of good beers that end with this kind of aside, so it's definitely not a bad thing. Anyway... grab it if you see it and are interested.

Very cloudy yellow/orange, creamy fluffy lacing. Grassy and herbal scents. Taste is citrusy, tangy, grassy, herbal, mild bready was. Slightly bitter. Lighter to medium bodied. Dry finish. Mild alcohol for such a high abv.

 

 

 

Got in a trade with SawDog505. 16 ounce can into tulip glass, no can dating. Pours opaquely hazy deep golden/greenish amber color with a 1 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of huge tangerine, lemon, lime, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, onion, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of huge tangerine, lemon, lime, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, onion, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, lemon, lime, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, onion, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, fairly sticky, and lightly resinous/rindy mouthfeel that is fantastic. Minimal warming alcohol for 8%. Overall this is a fantastic NEIPA. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV, with the mellowly bitter/resinous/drying finish; fantastic soft feel and not aggressive. Feels like Motueka, Pacific Gem, and Pacific Jade. Extremely juicy, vibrant, dank, and earthy balanced hop complexity; with a great wheat/oat/malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing spot on style example.

 

Thank you SawDog505 for this can!!

A - Opaque golden orange color with a thick, creamy white head.

S - Guava, peach, onion / garlic aroma with some peppery citrus.

T - Peach, mango, pithy spicy / peppery citrus, and ends with a balanced citrus spice.

M - Thick and velvet texture with light carbonated pricklies.

O - This is a world class example of the style that very well holds its own against the usual suspects that tend to dominate this style. Seek-it-out. 'Nuff said.

From a 16oz can, undated but purchased at the brewery within about a week of canning. Served in a spiegelau IPA glass.

Pours a dull, milky-murky orange-gold with a mite better than a finger of soft, thick, foamy head. Retention is just OK, quickly settling to a thin fizzy cap with swooshes of lacing.

A pleasant, moderately robust nose of mildly sweet fruit, some vanilla cream and, as an added bonus, some sharp and elusive pungent scent like maybe cactus or something like that. Nice. If it were a little more powerful I’d probably give it a 5. But I probably spend too much time smelling my beer.

Taste is more-or-less in line with expectations, underripe strawberry and lemon-lime up front, but still lightly sweet, followed by a mildly tart and tangy agave-like flavor. There is some pleasing bitterness but it does not linger.

Feel is smooth and creamy, medium-plus bodied with bright, prickly carbonation. There’s a slight chalky sensation on the tongue which, while notable, doesn’t significantly detract. And, God help me, it drinks like a beer half its abv.

Overall, I’ve had a few Kettlehead NEIPA’s at this point and, if I can trust my recollections, this is probably the best of them. As good as it was out of the can, it was christly magnificent on tap - I’m marking the overall score up 0.5 to account for how good it was on draft.

Poured into a 13 oz Kettlehead Brewing glass canned on 2/28/19 just released today. Pours like a glass pineapple orange juice, with a solid finger sticky white head that leaves a thin collar of lace. 4.25


Smell is papaya, passionfruit, a hint of lime, pineapple, and a little hit of white grapefruit rind. 4.5


Taste follows papaya, passionfruit, pineapple, upfront with some lime and grapefruit in moderately bitter finish. 4.5


Mouthfeel is bigger than average, a nice soft feel with gentle carbonation, and at 8% ABV crazy drinkable. 4.75


Overall another excellent NEDIPA from this excellent young brewery. 4.5