Honey IPA Braggot
Hidden Moon Brewing

 

Poured from a can. Caramel and hazy with a tan foamy head and lacing. Smells of pine, malt and a hint of honey. Taste follows the smell, a good IPA that's mellowed out by the honey. Good flavor, good mouth feel, very enjoyable.

 

 

Pours a one finger white head that fades slowly leaving some lace. Hazy amber color. Good carbonation and light-medium bodied. Citrus hop nose and flavor is almost sweet, maybe there is honey, more IPA than braggot. $15.99 16oz 4-pak from Calebs Country Store Barrington, NH.

 

 

Pours a deep gold with good clarity; rocky white head; good cap retention; solid ring; soapy lace. Nose is honey and floral hops; pine? Taste is honey with light bitter hopping; firm malt semi sweet base. Medium full body; slick and sticky tongue coating; moderate carbonation. Overall, I like; it drinks like a watered down Hopslam; I’m not a fan of honey flavored beer, but the honey taste is mild; very drinkable, but one and done for me.

Very interesting beer and quite different,
Rich honey color with a 3F head in a Tulip.
Rich aroma- honey, earthy, perhaps grassy.
Very full body and MF.
The taste is rich honey with earthy overtones.
The bitterness broadens with warming.
Not my kind of style, but absolutely a beer to check out.

Can from The Packie.
Brilliantly clear deep golden color with a huge frothy beige head that slowly recedes. Earthy grassy pine with hint of citrus and pitted fruit. Bready maltiness with hints of cracker and a light to moderate honey like sweetness. Light kiss of warming alcohol. firm bitterness especially as it warms. Very nicely made IPA, I'm not sure I'd call it a braggot, but I really enjoyed drinking it.

When I first saw this, knowing nothing about who brewed it other than the name of the brewery (and that it was actually made at Great North Aleworks in Manchester, NH), I went "umm, I don't think honey IPA necessarily equals a braggot, guys," but it turns out this brewing venture is the ale side of Londonderry-based Moonlight Meadery. Ya know, mead. It's honey wine. They probably know better than me, so I guess I'll just let them call this a braggot. The definition of the term is pretty non-specific, anyway.

This pours a beautiful honey-orange (whaddya know) color with a well-established head of bone-white foam that leaves behind fantastic lacing as it settles to about a quarter-finger. Awesome legs, too, and it's even mostly clear in terms of body. A truly nice looking IPA with a more "old-school" appearance is always something welcome in my glass, that's for sure!

No idea what hops are involved here, but this smells super sturdy and trusty, likely using a lot of Cascade and Centennial. Has that big, bruising citrusy element but with a good hit of florals and light earthiness/grassiness as well. Orange, tangerine, bergamot, light crystal maltiness and biscuit notes all show up here. Smells quite good. As any beer drinker worth their salt knows, honey fermented out pretty much totally in any beer recipe, because it's a very simple sugar. That typically leads to beers which utilize it ending up drier and with a touch of residual honey character. Let's see if that holds true in this beer, shall we?

Excellent first sip that really brings a lot of what I like about West Coast IPA together in a neat little package. Right upfront is a big hit of floral and herbal hops, vying for attention while a light biscuit malt coalesces into the mid-palate. The transition to the finish brings out some refreshing citrus and a light touch of sweetness. Slightly moving back into floral notes here, along with another fresh wave of orangey goodness, with some grapefruit and tangerine peel as well. Slight firm bitterness on the backend. Well-built body that is actually a touch lighter than expected (though pretty definitively "medium" at the end of the day). My can was packaged 6/8/20, which is about two weeks ago and claims that the beer is 7.2% (not the strength listed here, so perhaps it varies by batch). I would be likely to pick this up again, and am interested to see what Hidden Moon does in the future. Beer needs more honey influence. I would love to see, say, a black IPA with buckwheat honey (which is dark colored), or a stout with some orange blossom honey. Cool recipes like that, along with maybe an actual braggot the way I think of them (50/50 honey/grain fermented beverage with spices), would go a long way towards making these guys a force to be reckoned with!

I swung by the new Hidden Moon Brewing on 09JUN20 and had two 12oz pours of this, at $5.00 each.

The beer was a rich, golden hue, and was slightly hazy. Had slow carbo and a creamy, off-white head which lasted well to a nice covering layer. Lacing was top-notch. Aroma had mild citrus and was slightly sweet, though not overly strong. Body was a decent medium, with a fairly smooth feel.

Taste had some crackery/biscuity malt action at the outset. Then some semi-sweet citrus, with grapefruit, pineapple, a touch of honey and a bit of pithy character. Could have been a smidge sweeter, but still tasty and refreshing. Prosit!

3.96/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

2167