FAANG-tastic
Bull N Bear Brewery

 

Cream white to light tan head, crests around two fingers, retention about average, nice length to the lacing streaks. Yellow to orange hued liquid, more translucent than opaque. Fairly stiff texture to the nose, peppery and grainy, albeit with notes of bubblegum and violets too, well malted and wouldn't consider it all that dank, basic orchard fruit and nothing too tropical. Light to medium-bodied, the carbonated prickle able to carry things past the mid-palate. Dry on the whole. Here the orange to grapefruit citrus more pronounced. And, again, while dry the dankness accrues better. Good florality. The peach, apricot, nectarine fruit comes with a kiss of melon. Nice enough, showed better closer to fridge temperature than room. (Canned 11/8/21)

 

This was the first beer that I ever had, or even saw, from Bull N Bear as I picked this up a few months back at the Bottle King in Livingston. Lovely label and not a bad brew either, but this was one of the more odd New England IPA's that I've, but only in the sense that this really didn't come across as one at all...

If I didn't see the can first, I could have sworn this was a Pilsner when I poured it out because this was golden, nearly clear, and full of long streams of bubbles that never quite let up. Plenty of foam topped this off as it was quite thick and even at the surface as the lacing left behind was quite sudsy and thick in spots - even if I couldn't discern any rings. Lots of dank hops, gooseberry, and a hint of deep and turbid tropical fruit in the aroma as the passion fruit and Hawaiian Punch came through in the taste as there was just a few bits of dark sediment that had to be swirled out of the bottom of my pint glass.

This was well-balanced, nicely carbonated, and had enough bread and dough in the malt to counter any overly acrid or earthy notes that emerged once this fully warmed up. More sticky than slick, the oats ended up coming to the forefront more than anything else as they made the aftertaste chewy and certainly *not* like beers of this style that come from this neck of the woods. The alcohol was mildly noticeable, but not a deterrent, as it was fitting with the heavy-handed nature of this beer. All that was missing from this was a date on the bottom of the can, and this being placed under an American IPA on here!

Pint on draught at the brewery. It pours hazy but not cloudy; a bright honey color with a thin, milk-white head and soapy lacing. On the nose there is lemon, grapefruit, and whiffs of orange and berry, along with noticeable yeast. The taste opens with tart lemon and grapefruit. At mid-palate, however, there is orange/tangerine, berry, and notes of bready malt. The Mosaic and Citra hops provide lots of fruit while the Simcoe adds crisp bitterness (78 IBU). It's very well balanced. This ale is fairly thick and creamy with a pleasant level of carbonation and its very drinkable for 7.5% ABV. Overall, I like FAANG-tastic a lot. It's no haze bomb; rather, it nicely blends elements of New England and West Coast IPAs. It is flavorful and drinks very easily.