Distant Gardens
Definitive Brewing Company

 

Pours a very hazed gold with one finger of eggshell colored head. Good head retention, better lacing

S: Some juicyness, a little cattyness, not the strength of this beer to be sure

T: Plenty of oranges, pomelo & little lime & green melon up front. Some dryness, lime, green melon & pineapple & tangerine as this beer warms up. Finishes with pineapple, sweet & acidic, green melon & dryness

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, some acidity. Nicely balanced

Very good for the style, nose is very muted

 

 

 

 

Two plus finger head of off white, mottled surface, good retention, the lacing tends to be wispy but extended. The liquid is a fully opaque yellow purée, standard NEIPA appearance. Piney nose with large-scaled tangerine, lime citrus, equally strong melon fruit, floral like an air freshener, buttery biscuit notes, contours are round and not finding much dankness or strong herbaceousness. Medium to full-bodied, very creamy mouth feel without bitterness. Here you do get more of an herbal bite, helps to puncture the somewhat monotonous profile. More melon and more melon with apricot, peach to kiwi fruit flavors. Well buttered biscuit and scone, maybe granola, sweetish malts. Carbonation tries but the weight of the material prevents any real cleansing effect. While there's clarity of purpose I'd wish for more general bite for contrast. That said, it's vividly flavorful and easy to drink until it gets too heavy. (Canned 4/1/22)

 

 

 

Thank you Sawdog505 for this can!

A - Opaque golden tan color with a two fingered, dense, creamy, bubbly head after the pour.

S - Chewy and thick on the nose with delicate tropical fruit and grapey grassiness.

T - Very light tropical fruit with a slight bit of grape and subdued grassiness in for the mix. Ends on the sweeter side with a lingering fruitiness that eventually morphs into a spicy fruit and grape finish that lingers on the palate. There's an underlying bitterness that rounds everything out very nicely.

M - Thick and chewy with a unique finish that dries out the back of the tongue while the rest of the mouth waters and salivates.

O - I really dig the uniqueness of this D-IPA and it's a far cry from "traditional" New England IPA profiles. Check it out.

 

 

Distant Gardens is a fairly-new DDH DIPA from Definitive, who have been doing some damn good stuff over the past few months. I didn't follow them much before then, but they've done enough very cool IPAs and other hoppy styles (including some spectacular milkshake IPAs, which aren't very common in my opinion) that I basically automatically grab anything new they put out. DG features three NZ hop varietals, Topaz, Motueka, and Kohatu. Seems like it'll be good stuff.

The pour is definitely gorgeous. It's a stably hazy orange hue with a massive bone-white head that leaves behind an awesome curtain of sudsy lace as it slowly sinks to a half-finger with great legs. The lace and head are almost indistinguishable from one another here, and swirling my glass slightly re-rouses the head to a solid finger once again. Gotta hand it to them; most of their stuff looks awesome, and this is no different.

The nose is interesting and definitely a bit more herbal and dank than I thought it would be. Both Kohatu and Motueka can have a "lime"-like focus, and Topaz is known for its spice and grassiness, so I suppose this combination could definitely come out to approximate a bit of dankness and greenery in a sense. A hint of clean biscuity maltiness backed up by light tangelo and lychee along with something kind of similar to what Nelson can do at times... a bit of mineral-y white wine, in other words. Hoping this develops more on the palate. Something about it seems somewhat "cleaning solution"-y, though, and I'm crossing my fingers that such an aspect resolves itself as the beer opens up a bit.

Nice and firmly bitter on the palate with flavors of tangerine, grapefruit rind, resin, and crushed flower petals with hints of anonymous spice, grass, and lime. Clean malt backbone without much added flavor, but there are hints of oat smoothness in the way the mouthfeel presents and especially in how it translates to the finish, which is nice and plush. A hint of pushy carbonation upfront fades out toward the back, though the bitterness is still rather intense, lingering for a solid five seconds and bringing out some fresh-squeezed lime and papaya juice flavors. Light melon here, as well. Luckily, not getting anything "sanitizer"-like about this on the tongue, unlike the nose. Solid stuff, but probably not one I'll return to from them. They make better IPAs, for sure, but this is worth a look if you really like NEIPAs. I enjoyed it.

A: The beer is very hazy to cloudy pale whitish yellow in color. It poured with a half finger high white head that left lots of lacing on the surface and down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of grape and lychee are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has additional hints of basil herbs and honeydew melon.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This New England-style IPA seems a bit softer than what I would have expected for a beer that is 8% abv.

Serving type: can

 

 

Can from Canton St May 2020

This is not my preferred style of hazy ipa. Looks like a holiday fruit punch bowl; Heavily fruited and muddled; slightly boozy finish. This is closer to a fruit beer than an IPA. We need fewer beers like this.