Dreamstate
Kettlehead Brewing Company

It's been fun trying a bunch of the new Kettlehead IPA I've been able to find popping up on shelves at a specific store up in Nashua, NH. They haven't all been great, but for the most part I've liked what I've had... wouldn't keep buying them if I didn't, after all, right? This one sounded especially good to me... Mosaic and Rakau sounds like a fun combination, and it's a big beer to boot, which gives me even more hope that this will satisfy.

The pour is a murky and opaque orange color without much saturation to it. Though the hue is below-average in terms of pure aesthetics, the head forms up nicely with two fingers of dense suds that lace wonderfully and retain great legs as they slowly dissipate to a half-finger. Fantastic head retention on this one, so that kinda makes up for the turbidity.

The nose is a little tea-like with notes of pomelo, pear, and herbal grassiness. An unusual scent profile, honestly, but it kinda works. There's some nice resin in here, and even some hints of apricot and tangerine mingling with a little spice to boot. I usually am a bit wary of Mosaic in bigger IPAs, but the Rakau balances it nicely with its proclivity towards intriguing stone fruit tones.

On the tongue, Dreamstate is pretty creamy and satisfyingly-punchy with a nice balance between oat-like maltiness, a bit of sweetness, and complex hop flavors ranging from orange to pomelo and passion fruit. It's straddling the line between solid tropical fruitiness and ripe stone fruit in a cool way that you don't really see very often in NEIPAs, honestly. Another great thing about this one is that it hides its ABV extremely well, which makes it quite drinkable and fun. The alcohol is definitely there, but it seems like more of a "flavor integrator" and not an end unto itself, so I feel like this may be one of the best Kettlehead IPAs I've had to date. Recommended if you enjoy this brewery's output!

 

 

 

 

Look...grainy yellow wheat color with a white foamy carbonated head. A fine looking turbid DIPA
Smell...light melon hop dank just a little feint.Maybe the age?
Taste...Light orange with a pithy mango slightly sweet turned around quickly by an onset of bitter balancing quite nicely
Feel...A full and pillow soft pats on your tongue. a great quality of the beer
Overall...This works quite well and would have again. A quality level I admire. Nothing crazy but would love to try other variants from these brewers of this style. we will see how quick we get them. This one was 7 weeks old when they dropped so,,,,,We see haha

 

 

 

 

Drinking iout of a large snifter.
Pours a hazy orange with a full foamy head.
Floral notes to the nose.
Good mouth feel.
Tastes of tropical fruits.
No bitterness.

 

a: murky burnt yellow color with a 1 finger fizzy white head

s: earthy herbal hops. oranges, grapefruit, resin. strawberry, mango, ripe pineapple. some sweet earthy hops and crackers to close

t: orange juice and loads of sweet ripe grapefruit. faint resin, pine, sweet pineapple. mango, guava, and a huge crackery bready backbone

m: medium mouthfeel with strong carbonation

o: very solid beer. definitely i see this as a NEDIPA. hoppy and sweet, but well balanced and harmonized

Dreamstate

Kettlehead Brewing

IPA - Imperial / Double New...

Dreamstate fruity hop world. Juicy and smooth, honeydew melon, creamy citrus, dry earthy grainy malt balance. Floral type Sweetness becomes noticeable around the edges. The feel gets a bit slippery and heavy. Very saturated fruity hop thickness for sure.

An interesting NEIPA. At times, I tasted a bit of yeasty, dank "Saison like" funk and towards the end I believed there was a little lactose in this brew. Ordinarily, I think lactose kills the bitterness and crispness I expect in an IPA, but here it wasn't overdone. Poured from a 16 oz. can into a pint glass, this beer starts out with the standard NEIPA hazy straw color and foamy white head. Good sized head and retention with lots of lacing on the glass. Aroma and taste included grapefruit, tropical fruit and orange but towards the beginning, I noticed a little musty, yeasty funk as part of the flavor. Few of the recent NEIPAs I have had featured dankness, and it was quite welcome in this brew. Bitterness level was low and the detection of some lactose in the finish was not disappointing. The combination of fruit and funk up front was quite enjoyable. Mouthfeel was smooth and rich. This evolution was 8% abv vice the 9% listed here. There was no alcohol bite here. It went down very smooth. A good NEIPA.

 

 

 

Canning date obstructed

I see a decent amount of Kettlehead beers on the shelves at local liquor stores, but surprsingly this is the first one that I've actually grabbed from them. It should be interesting to finally try them after years of hearing about them. Let's dive right in

Pours a hazy yellow gold with 3 fingers of creamy off white head that slowly fades to a cap and leaves decent lacing

The nose is very tropical, and it just might be the most blueberry-forward expression of Mosaic hops that I've ever seen. I'm picking up on aromas of blueberry skin, tangerine, mango skin, earthy hops, bready malt, dank weed, and pineapple juice

Things are a bit more bland in taste but I'm still digging it. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting orange juice, bready malt, grassy hops, pineapple juice, blueberry skin, overripe cantaloupe, and mango skin. The swallow brings notes of orange zest, bready malt, grassy hops, mango skin, pineapple juice, blueberry skin, and light weed

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer. Finishes mostly dry with a slight astringency

This is pretty damn good all around. Maybe I'll have to grab some more from Ketllehead

Pale milky hazy gold with some clarity under two fingers of fluffy white foam; very good cap retention; heavy ring; medium heavy lacing. Pineapple and grapefruit nose. Semi sweet pineapple and sugared grapefruit and peach compote; no bitterness. Full minus body with soft feel; some dusty dry tongue coating; no resin; moderate minus carbonation; no astringency. Overall a tasty HazyLite…another kids juice box that tastes fine…IPA for people that don’t like IPA…still, it tastes great and I’d drink again.