Particle City
Empire Brewing Company

First and only beer I've seen from Empire in a can. Purchased in mid-April while traveling through Poughkeepsie, NY - canning date of 1/24/19. Can is very different from the one pictured here so I have to believe that its retirement has ended and a new life has begun featuring a new face. Very fortunate since the reissued product is worthy of being a major part of Empire's year-round portfolio. Citra and Mosaic are among my most favored hops and this product does an excellent job of showcasing them in a very tasty form of a Northeast IPA with a barely noticeable 8.0% ABV. Wish I had purchased more than a single but I'll be looking for it again (hopefully in a 4-pack) when I next travel to NY.

 

 

 

cool beer from these guys, maybe their first i have seen in a can (different than the one pictured, makes me think its not retired at all, but who knows), its one of their best i can remember, even though some of my friends dont love it, i think its a nice (if now conventional) hop profile, citra is everywhere start to finish in nose and taste, and the mosaic is really fresh in here even though the can has a little fridge time on it. pretty hazy in the glass, but the head is tall and white and lacy, and the carbonation is there. mango juice, dried lemon peel, neat organic compounds and obvious tropical character, sweeter white table wine, light gin botanicals, and a twist of orange, its delicious, even if the grain is a little bigger here than it needs to be, both in its cereal complexion and in its body, thank goodness for the bubbles or it might be a bit much. i do get a little alcohol here too, which i dont love in the style, but its not a flaw or overexposed or anything. a little vegetal and maxed out on the hops, like it cant take in any more and so there is some extra, but its not way off in that regard for me. not too green or harsh. good to very good, id like to try it at max freshness. nice to see these guys doing something modern like this, its been awhile since i have had any new empire beer (maybe more fault than theirs, living out west now...). cool cans too with the shades on them!

Can. A pretty generic double IPA. Citrusy but not juicy. Solid malt backing. Flavor hits the grapefruit flavor realm. Finishes with pronounced sweetness. Nothing fancy just a standard double IPA. No fault in that!

 

 

 

This beer pours a hazy deep golden orange color with a two finger, sudsy white head. Retention is above average and there are soapy chunks of lacing left on the glass.

Smell is over ripe mango, orange zest, grapefruit, and a touch of bready malt. Rather subtle smell, but the fruit flavors really come to life when the beer is agitated.

Taste follows suit. The malt is a little more present than in the smell and there is a moderately bitter finish.

Feel is light side of medium and smooth with a resinous finish. Carbonation is low, but the stickiness really keeps this beer from feeling like a true NEIPA. It is not soft or juicy.

Overall this is an enjoyable beer, but (even at only 9 days old) the hops really don't jump out of the glass in the aroma or taste, and the malts are a bit too intrusive to be up there with the best of the style.

 

 

Straight pour from a twist-off 32oz dark brown glass growler to an oversized wineglass (Jester King stem). This was filled at a local shop two days prior, and it’s been in the fridge ever since.

Appearance (4.0): A solid three fingers of fluffy foam rise off of the pour, capping a moderately hazy, glowing, dark orange body. The head dies down quite slowly, and it leaves behind scattered suds and a couple of sizeable, thin splotches of lacy film here and there. Lacing could be better, but the initial head and body were gorgeous.

Smell (4.25): This is fairly aromatic, throwing aromas of tangelo, some key lime, orange oil, something herbal and oily, some fusel, slight pine and dank resin, and a light spice. I think the booze comes through in the nose, but in a way that it backs up the oiliness of the citrus zest. A bit of sugar cookie dough and a touch of country bread show some malt body, but they’re light enough and configured in a way that they hide out behind the sweeter aspects of the hops. I get the sense that there’s not as much oat and wheat in this as in other NE IPAs.

Taste (4.0): Whoa, this has an unexpected arrangement of different characters. The hops definitely come through first, with a modest, sweet tangelo and unsweetened lemon juice flavor. It’s followed by heftier than expected (but still pleasantly in-check) malt, with a touch of toffee, simple syrup, and baking soda biscuits with honey. It shifts gears, moving into a piney, resinous bitterness backed by a touch of fusel that allows it to come off as mildly astringent, like sap and citrus zest mixed together. It leaves a bitter, subtle aspirin flavor as the beer resolves, along with some orange peel flavor. In spite of its flaws, it still tastes pretty good. I like the different components in this beer a lot, but they’re not reaching their full potential.

Mouthfeel (4.0): Carbonation is smooth and understated at first, spreading out ahead of the moderately slick, thoroughly medium-weight body. It prickles nicely all over the palate, while the hop oils and booze dry out the body quite a bit. It pushes you to drink it relatively quickly, in spite of the finishing astringency mentioned above. Overall, very satisfying, in spite of the booze and astringency.

Overall (4.0): Here’s my hunch: they took a fairly standard (D)IPA recipe, added a small amount of oats and/or wheat, cranked up the late hop and dry hop additions by like, 10-20%, and fermented it with some English ale yeast. But, given the fusel and astringency on the palate, it feels like maybe they didn’t control the fermentation temperature as tightly as they should have, they should have upped the oats some more, and focused more on the late/post-boil hop additions a bit more. ALL THAT SAID, it’s still a pretty damn tasty (D)IPA, and if this were put in a can by a moderately buzzed about brewery (especially outside of New England), this would have some big fans. I like what the finished product is, but I think they maybe weren’t adventurous enough with the (sub-)style at hand. Worth getting on tap if you see it, though it’s a bit pricey for what it is.