Hop Trial Denali
Schlafly Beer - The Tap Room

 

Shiny new copper penny color with an inch of creamy, frothy off white. Moderate lacing. Aroma is of cedar. I'm tasting woodsy cedar and a hint of pine. The mouth is faintly sticky and lightly dense.

12oz bottle. Poured out a clear, golden orange color with a small, white head of foam. It smelled of tropical fruit , like pineapple & grapefruit. Sweet tropical fruity taste with toasted caramel and pine.

 

 

On tap at the Bottle Works in St. Louis. The waitress asked if I wanted to provide my input on the single hop beer to help the brewers as they experiment. I gladly provided my input.

The idea of the beer is to profile just this one hop. So its more about what the hop does and not so much about making a complete beer, at least that's my take on it.

So the beer was disappointing, in part, to my explanation above, because it was trying to highlight just this one hop, so the brewers were careful with the malt bill so as not to interfere with the hop.

In broad terms this ale tasted like a hoppier, slightly more bitter pilsner.

The aroma was almost non-existent, presenting more the malt aromas than hops, but I did pick up the slightest bit of citrus.

Taste wise this hop was grassy and herbal. The bitterness was not excessive.

A pleasant pale yellow beer with very little head. I'm sure this hop has its place in the brewers "quiver" but as a stand alone its boring.