Rain Birth
Forest & Main - The Brewery
- From:
- Forest & Main - The Brewery
- Pennsylvania, United States
- Style:
- American IPA
- ABV:
- 7%
- Score:
- +8 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.27 | pDev: 1.87%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Aug 06, 2018
- Added:
- Jul 12, 2018
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
A 7% IPA brewed with Pilsner and wheat malts and hopped with Galaxy.
Rain Birth projects the following images onto our head screens. The most beautifully ripe pears being plucked from cannabis trees and dropped, slowly, down a perfect cliff to the Caribbean pie crust pool below. Apricots, fresh and dried, rising from the ground, balloon like, and floating sunward, only to burst and rain down sweet grapefruit splops in a cycle that never ends and is always pleasant.
Rain Birth projects the following images onto our head screens. The most beautifully ripe pears being plucked from cannabis trees and dropped, slowly, down a perfect cliff to the Caribbean pie crust pool below. Apricots, fresh and dried, rising from the ground, balloon like, and floating sunward, only to burst and rain down sweet grapefruit splops in a cycle that never ends and is always pleasant.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by fmccormi from California
4.35/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
4.35/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Straight pour from a 16oz can to a tumbler. Normally I wouldn’t use a tumbler for an aromatic beer like a (D)IPA, but I bought this limited-run Forest and Main tumbler at the brewery just a couple of weeks ago so I wanted to enjoy this weird beer in the brewery’s own weird way. This can was packaged on June 29, 2018, according to a black ink canning date on the underside of the can (“BY APPOINTMENT ONLY 06/29/2018”). That would make this beer 16 days old at the time of consumption.
Appearance (4.0): This pours out a good 1.5 fingers of crackly ecru foam, capping a tastefully hazy, dark straw-colored body with orange-tan undertones. The head dies down somewhat quickly, leaving a wide collar of thin foam with drippy legs tying it to the surface of the body. It’s an attractive beer with delicate retention.
Smell (4.5): Pungent passionfruit rind and gooseberry leap out of the glass, along with a mixture of grass and dankly resinous aromas playing into it in a way that resonates with light honeysuckle and pineapple basil. Smells like old school, high quality Galaxy, which I’m a sucker for when the lot’s good. Malt peers through the blinds with light graham cracker, common cracker, and the lightest touch of light caramel. Really though, the hops shine through all.
Taste (4.25): All that the nose has to offer is on display here, but with an interesting kind of mellow vanilla creaminess that ties the graham crackery malt to some smooth melon tones that didn’t show up in the nose, but emanate organically from the bevy of sauvignon blanc aromas stemming from the hops. The drink starts with a light, grassily bitter snap that gives way to subtle cantaloupe and not-so-subtle passionfruit, along with a floral character that I can’t place. But again, it comes back around with this charmingly round creaminess that only jumps out when the fruity hop bombast gives way to subtler mineral tones, graham cracker, and a light dollop of vanilla-accented heavy cream. No indication of alcohol or hop burn whatsoever—just a confluence of disparate, complementary streams.
Mouthfeel (4.75): This rolls in on the palate with a light, but sturdy carpet of not-too-fine bubbles that coat every surface, get pushed around by medium-weight but fuller-feeling, not-quite-starchy body, and then foam up to a manageable volume on a velvet-smooth bed of bubbles and malt. Hop oils dissolve all the creamy fun right after, but without the use of excessive force—they just clean up, let it disperse calmly, and leave a dry, manageable finish. This is extremely satisfying in feel and heft, but you still want the next sip.
Overall (4.25): It’s an estuary of bright, Pacific hop character and round, graham cracker beauty. Passionfruit, melon, gooseberry, graham cracker, and mallow. And eminently drinkable, but richly satisfying at the same time. What I’m really impressed by is the amount of nuance that Forest and Main crams into their beers. Honest to god, it’s not just a great hop-blasty funride, it’s a balanced, American IPA that doesn’t fit into any typical substyle. It’s just a fucking good, well-made, well-balanced, satisfying IPA that never succumbs to boringness. What more do you want?
Jul 16, 2018Appearance (4.0): This pours out a good 1.5 fingers of crackly ecru foam, capping a tastefully hazy, dark straw-colored body with orange-tan undertones. The head dies down somewhat quickly, leaving a wide collar of thin foam with drippy legs tying it to the surface of the body. It’s an attractive beer with delicate retention.
Smell (4.5): Pungent passionfruit rind and gooseberry leap out of the glass, along with a mixture of grass and dankly resinous aromas playing into it in a way that resonates with light honeysuckle and pineapple basil. Smells like old school, high quality Galaxy, which I’m a sucker for when the lot’s good. Malt peers through the blinds with light graham cracker, common cracker, and the lightest touch of light caramel. Really though, the hops shine through all.
Taste (4.25): All that the nose has to offer is on display here, but with an interesting kind of mellow vanilla creaminess that ties the graham crackery malt to some smooth melon tones that didn’t show up in the nose, but emanate organically from the bevy of sauvignon blanc aromas stemming from the hops. The drink starts with a light, grassily bitter snap that gives way to subtle cantaloupe and not-so-subtle passionfruit, along with a floral character that I can’t place. But again, it comes back around with this charmingly round creaminess that only jumps out when the fruity hop bombast gives way to subtler mineral tones, graham cracker, and a light dollop of vanilla-accented heavy cream. No indication of alcohol or hop burn whatsoever—just a confluence of disparate, complementary streams.
Mouthfeel (4.75): This rolls in on the palate with a light, but sturdy carpet of not-too-fine bubbles that coat every surface, get pushed around by medium-weight but fuller-feeling, not-quite-starchy body, and then foam up to a manageable volume on a velvet-smooth bed of bubbles and malt. Hop oils dissolve all the creamy fun right after, but without the use of excessive force—they just clean up, let it disperse calmly, and leave a dry, manageable finish. This is extremely satisfying in feel and heft, but you still want the next sip.
Overall (4.25): It’s an estuary of bright, Pacific hop character and round, graham cracker beauty. Passionfruit, melon, gooseberry, graham cracker, and mallow. And eminently drinkable, but richly satisfying at the same time. What I’m really impressed by is the amount of nuance that Forest and Main crams into their beers. Honest to god, it’s not just a great hop-blasty funride, it’s a balanced, American IPA that doesn’t fit into any typical substyle. It’s just a fucking good, well-made, well-balanced, satisfying IPA that never succumbs to boringness. What more do you want?
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