2nd Trip Around The Sun
Untied Brewing Company

Traded for this a few weeks ago with a friend, who's able to get me Untied relatively easily as they're one of the up and coming breweries in these parts. Been a while since I had one of their offerings and this was worth being an anniversary beer as it was plenty full, soft on the palate, and full of flavor that only got better as this warmed up.

The pour to this was pretty standard for an Imperial IPA - golden, translucent, and topped off with a moderate head with a handful of bigger bubbles at the surface. A nice, well-defined ring of lacing started off the suds about a quarter of the way down as there was plenty of well-defined and deep rings the rest of the way down. Interesting aroma to this as there was plenty of oats as the basis, with some deep stone fruit, apricot, peach, and a hint of butterscotch sweetness as the stickiness and heavy rind really emerged as this warmed up. Dank, tangerine cream, turbid lime, gooseberry, and pithy fruit took over in the middle and back of this as this was a very Motueka- and Rakau-forward beer that had a soda like mouthfeel to it as the carbonation was lively and enough to keep this from feeling to strong or heavy.

The amount of booze was right and there were hints of cream and chewy oats in the aftertaste as the body was plenty to proverbially and literally chew on. Nothing was written on the bottom of the can except for "BLACK" and although a date would have been nice, I enjoy this as it was further proof of how Untied is getting better with each succeeding batch. Here's to 2 more years and to more beers of this caliber in the future!

Reviewed two days after can release. Poured into an Untied tulip glass. It pours a dense, turbid, bright tangerine color with a half finger of frothy, bright white head and lots of thick, clinging lacing. What a fresh, fruity aroma: lemon, lime grapefruit, and stone fruit. As the glass warms there is also a distinct smell of fresh peach. Wow, the fruit just explodes in the taste! It opens with lots of tart lemon and grapefruit with notes of lime. Then, there is peach and red berry. The Cashmere hops provide flavors of grass and the slightest hint of coconut. There is just a hint of pina colada. I love Motueka and you can taste it in the lemon, lime, and tropical fruit notes. The Rakau hops add some resinous pine. It's just a fruity explosion. As I've come to expect from Untied, the mouth feel is thick and creamy and the level of carbonation is appropriate. The 8.3% ABV gives it a nice kick. Overall, I keep thinking, something must be less than stellar but there isn't anything. This is a fantastic NE DIPA. This brewery has nailed the style.