Hazy Series Volume 7
Western Collective

Draft at Western Collective. Pale, hazy yellow, small creamy head. Aroma is light and fruity, sweet. Taste brings a small bitter bite, but that is showcased in more sweet, fruity flavors, subdued, mellow. Very interesting.

 

brewed with a new experimental hop from idaho, pretty neat to be able to showcase a cool new local ingredient like this. its a solid beer, sturdy and wheaty on the base but quite clean and dry too, fermented brighter and even crisper than some of the others in this series have been, which i think flatters the hops, which have almost new zealand fruity and white wine characteristics here, hints of lemongrass and green gooseberry and creamy lemon, soft but bold at the same time, delicious. its very well refined overall, perhaps just a little heavier than the flavors demand, but its close, and its so great to see these guys finally making high quality hop forward beer, it was a bit rough there for awhile. id love to see this hop in a mild saison type, as i think it has some cool noble properties along with the more prominent fruity features, some wet grass and straw to this, spring meadow vibes, lightly floral, and this is quite low alpha at least in this use of it. green melon and watermelon rind notes in the finish, slight doughy character from the yeast, no sign of its alcohol strength, and if it wasnt for this being fuller bodied it would be way too drinkable because the carbonation is also quite high. all the intangibles are here, and i am excited both about where western collective is going these days and what the future holds for this new hop. really tasty!