The Last Crusade
Forest & Main - The Brewery

 

Poured chilled from a can into a 16oz pint glass. Appearance is deep gold, little hazy, nice foamy head that recedes slowly leaving a fair amount of lacing on the glass.
Aroma is fruity, hoppy, piny, and slightly dank.
Taste is nice hoppy punch, piny, some melon and berry in there. Orange or mandarin notes in there as well.
Mouthfeel is medium. Good amount of crisp carbonation leaving a slight dry finish. Good balance of sweet and bitter.
Overall picked this off the shelf because I like this local brewery and thought the artwork was admirable. Very thirst-quenching and dangerously enjoyable. Fair example of the style.
Will get this one again.

 

 

 

 

Canned on: ??????

A - Big fluffy white, rocky foam resting on top with medium gold opaque colored pour.

S - Melon, peach, lemon-lime, peach.

T - Melon, lemon, lime, peach, and citrus with a bitter citrus finish that lingers.

M - Big medium body with prickly carbonation and a semi-dry finish.

O - Rock solid.

 

On tap at Sabatinis in Exeter pa late this afternoon.

Great looking beer, hazy yellow body, persistent soft white head. Layers of lacing. Nice non citrus fruit aroma. Standard hazy taste, but the nice thing is a hoppy slightly bitter finish.

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single from a local bar/bottle shop for $5.25. No canned on date; this was released on Instagram on July 27, so that would make this can one day shy of 16 weeks old.

Look: Pours a fairly hazy golden, almost orange color with a frothy, off-white head. Looks nice, with vibrant carbonation as tiny bubbles are rising up the glass at a moderate clip.

Smell: Nice juicy aromas of tropical fruits, stone fruit, and citrus - I am getting melon, gooseberry, peach, grapefruit, tangerines, and juicy fruit gum. There's an indication of bitterness also because I detect an almost vegetal note in the background. There is a spicy peppery note on the finish after swirling the glass; it's hard for me to pinpoint it as green bell pepper as I often do with other hoppy beers. This one smells almost minty and a bit like anise. After pouring the rest of the can, this became very dank on the nose. Some hop protein sediment after pouring the bottom of the can.

Taste: Maybe this will change after I pour the rest of the can and this gets significantly hazier, but right now this tastes pretty clean and crisp and I really like it. Up front, there are some mild berry notes along with citrus and stone fruit. The finish is moderately bitter with grapefruit zest and pith. It's easy to drink and fairly refreshing. I can actually detect the alcohol here, which is saying something because it seems to be less and less common with the beers made these days. But it's still very drinkable and pleasant. After pouring the rest of the can, the flavor of this beer didn't change so much and for me that is a good thing. I would say that it made the body creamier and more pillowy.

Feel: This beer has a clean and crisp side to it as well as a creamy/pillowy mouthfeel side to it. Since my can is around 3 1/2 months old and there has been some settling over time, I would lean towards the creamy/pillowy angle is what they were going for, especially since this is a Hazy NEIPA. That being said, I think that the Strata hop has an interesting personality and can manifest itself in many different ways. All said and done, this beer has a relatively crisp (for a NEIPA), moderately bitter and dry finish. The mouthfeel is soft and fluffy. Very drinkable.

Overall: I think that what I like most about this is that it is such a balanced NEIPA, which I find is very hard to find. It's not overly sweet or bitter. In fact, it's very dry and while it does have a significant bitterness, it seems to me that it expresses itself in a pleasant and balanced way. And the fact that this beer is almost 16 weeks old and it has not dropped off (as is the case with a lot of other NEIPAs) is a testament to its quality. I continue to be impressed with Forest & Main. While I have not had anywhere close to every beer that they make, I can sincerely say that every beer that they make is worth trying in my opinion!

From instagram:
Last Crusade - 7% Hazy IPA. Hacheemachee a 7 percent hazy ipa! We brewed this one with so many grains - barley, oats, spelt, and wheat. Then we hopped it heavily in the spinner and the dry hopper with luscious sacks of Strata and Cashmere.

Even just spilling this beer on a table is a delightful sensory experience, but all the more so if you manage to drink it all. Notes of strawberries with sweet dark red flesh, fresh squeezed mandarin juice, ripe mango, aromatic hop oils jumping from the glass, and a fresh bowl of marihuana.

Forest & Main Brewing Co. "The Last Crusade"
16 fl. oz. can without production codes or freshness dating
$5.00 @ Kunda Beverage, King of Prussia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: This is an IPA at 7% ABV with Cashmere and Strata hops. The label is quite nice with a bird flying along with a vessel filled with water strapped to its back and a duck inside of it. I guess ducks can't fly that far. Or maybe they can. Whatever. It's poured a very hazy pale golden body beneath a massive head of foam. I'll give it a whiff as I wait for it to settle. The aroma isn't that bright but I'm getting some interesting character out of it. It's softly fruity with what seems like a combination of berries and peach with a drop or two of lemon thrown in. I've now topped up my pint and I have a lovely finger's width of rocky off-white foam to look at. Let's give it a taste... I'm getting peach and bubblegum mixed with a sweetish and bready malt base. They're really well combined. What else is there? ... sweet red berry... strawberry? Yes, very cool. There's some melon, and herbs... ... ...orange... passionfruit, and I think, coconut. Strawberry and coconut, how bizarre! Oh, and throw in the bubblegum as well. Now keep in mind that these are not bright notes, they don't just pop out at you, so it's not like some crazy island cocktail, but they are there, and it's a little bit weird but at the same time seemingly completely natural if that can make any sense at all. I like it. The more I drink the more I get the coconut in the end, and I think some bitter lime. The strawberry is intermittent. It's really interesting. A firm bitterness lies at its core, and it finishes dry. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp then smooth. The head has held up remarkably well and the lacing is excellent. What a treat! The subtle complexity makes it fascinating to drink, and I can't help but ponder it with each sip.
Review #8,321