Veldensteiner New England IPA
Kaiser Bräu

A: Amber, hazy, small head which disappeared fairly quickly, left some lacing.

S: Strawberry and farmyard funk.

T: Followed the nose but had more bittersweet sharpness than other NEIPAs although there was less orange.

M: Medium to heavy body, low carbonation.

O: A beer which was caught somewhere between being a Lagunitas clone and a NEIPA, not too bad for the price but not spectacular.

Pours a slightly cloudy golden amber coloration with a medium, fluffy head. Smells of sweet, doughy, biscuity malt, with some hoppy, fruity highlights and a hint of grass. Taste follows the nose, being almost more dominated by the sweet, doughy, biscuity malt than the fruity hops, with some thin, distant notes of red berries, papaya and tangerine that are hard to make out, as well as light grassiness and a rather unpleasant, fusel'ish note developing in the aftertaste. Finishes with a light bitterness and some sweet malts, light hoppy accents and fusel alcohol lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This is basically what happens when a traditional German brewer tries to make a NEIPA. To be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this in the first place, but I certainly wasn't positively surprised. I mean, it's not an awful beer, but still a pretty bad NEIPA that completely lacks the style's signature haze, juicyness and soft mouthfeel. It's kinda fruity and not very bitter, but that's about where it ends, as the hops are just not vibrant and juicy enough here and almost get overshadowed by the way too sweet malts. It might still be passable if it wasn't for that light, but still rather unpleasant fusel alcohol aftertaste.