Hoppy Holidays
Block 15 Brewing - Southtown Tap Room

Deep orange color. Clear, with a thin, bubbly head. Streak lacing. This beer has a citrus and pine aroma with a caramel malt undertone. Hints of fruit and spice. This beer is brewed with spruce and fir tips, so it really gives that sweet, tree sap like quality up in the flavor. Orange and spice come through as well, with a nice hops bite in that juicy, resinous finish. An excellent holiday ale to try if you are fortunate enough to get your hands on it!

Look: Copper-bronze liquid quickly fills the glass, followed by a silky-looking off-white pillow-of-a-head that retains nicely

Aroma: Bright orange, pink & white grapefruit, menthol-laden spruce needles, tangerine, dank conifer forest, and freshly baked bread

Taste: Whoa baby. Resinous and pungent crushed spruce needles jump out quickly, literally coating the tongue with flavor and sharp and bright navel orange follows close behind. Grapefruit and tangerine round it out and dance elegantly with the coniferous goodness, going back and forth for prominence before spruce tips and orange rise to the top to close it out with a generous bite

Mouthfeel: Full, slick, clean, medium-high carbonation, and smooth and lightly slick with a noticeably dry finish

Overall: This is a delicious beer. I honestly can’t say I’ve had this beer before but if so, it was years ago so was fun to finally review. Block 15 does it again in making a 8.5%+ ABV IPA – something I rarely drink anymore – into a ridiculously tasty and enjoyable libation. Add in the spruce tips and orange zest and this really has a ‘holiday’ feel to it. Hides the 9.2% extremely well to boot. Highly recommended

 

 

 

Taster at Loyal Legion. Medium golden hazy, small head, spotty lacing. Dank, citrus aroma. Taste too goes tartar and dank, sour lemons. Floral and herbal notes too.

This smells as advertised. There is a ton of hops that are both bright citrus and also earthy pine. There is a very slight malt sweetness.

Big bitter flavor up front with orange and pine in the background. The bitterness dominates so much that you barely get any hoppy sweetness but it is subtly there.

Medium bodied with a ton of fizz. The finish stays bitter with notes of sweetness and pine that hit quick and then fade with the bitterness remaining for a while.

This is a hoppy Imperial IPA with a couple subtle tricks up it's sleeve. It is good. Overall I give it a 4.6 out of 6.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a hazy, medium golden amber with a two finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of mildly caramel malt, citrus and piney hops, orange and spruce needles; pine/spruce forward. Flavor is caramel malt, piney and light citrus hops, pine/spruce needles, light orange and faint mixed citrus. Piney finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Hoping for a spruce experience on Christmas Eve and this totally delivered. Supported by a nice caramel and pale malt base, there is a touch of citrus, but mostly orange notes and lots of pine/spruce tree esters. The orange is deftly handled and lightly enhances the pine experience without intruding. A fine seasonal IPA that will become an annual event for me.

Slightly hazy amber pour, light head. Nose is citrus with a bit of pine. First sip is inverted, get the citrus upfront and then the spruce comes in. Very tasty, the 9% ABV is well hidden, so beware.

 

Can 11/27:
Medium haze (not cloudy) where items behind the beer can be discerned. Moderate but lasting head, spotty lacing.

Initial whiffs brought generic citrus notes: tangerine, orange, grapefruit. First sips had that citrus up front and a nice pop of piney spruce tips caught me off guard.

Of course, warming the beer after my initial eagerness allowed the spruce to blossom in the nose. The citrus is still there with some very light toasted bread, but mint and spruce share the nose. A deep inhale over the glass orifice yield more piney notes.

Opening is somewhat similar to an English pale ale with the malt profile, light citrus peel, and somewhat metallic note that appears to be the spruce starting its influence. By mid-taste, the pine needle nature or the spruce comes to bear. Interestingly the orange citrus note and slight malty sweetness cut back into it as the beer warms.

The citrus and spruce in this beer avoid the dangers of OJ+toothpaste that others run afoul of. The beer does a nice job of bringing about holiday impressions citrus treats with a thriving tree at the center of it all.

Lovely burning orange color with a frothy white head. A little lacking in clarity, but beautiful nonetheless. That foam persists and laces quite well.

The aroma of sweet pine sap. Hard to detect much else through that rich aroma, but the citrus does come through a tad.

At first sips, this thing delivers what is preached. Plenty of zesty citrus rind and a sleigh load of sweet spruce. As it warms, full on fruit cake explosion.

Slick and rich with an initial sweetness followed by a smooth lasting bitterness. No big bite. Soft carbonation and creeping, but we'll subdued alcohol warmth.

Another winner from Block 15 that really showcases the spruce. You could argue that it's overly abundant, but for a pine hound like me it suits just fine. Cheers.

 

The beer is an opaque golden orange with a frothy and rocky head that recedes to a spotty coating. Rings of lacing.

Smell is predominantly spruce and orange with a little crusty bread.

The flavor is bursting with piney resin and grapefruit up front, with the spruce coming in mid-swallow and taking things over for a bit before transitioning into crusty, bread malt and a little orange zest bitterness.

It’s medium bodied with a semi-sweet finish and normal carbonation. Slightly bitter in the finish.

Overall this was a nice citrusy and piney IIPA enhanced to good effect by its additions.

Canned 08 Dec, purchased at ABV.

A hazy light amber with a dense, large, pillowy offwhite head with excellent retention and lacing this looks great. The nose opens with prominent citrus notes with orange, mandarin and a little grapefruit before a moderate spruce notes appears. The spruce strengthens as the beer warms up. A mild caramel note is present as well. The palate opens moderately bitter with a blend of pine and citrus with a noticeable spruce character. Arguably overdone, it lingers on into the mid palate and the finish. That said, it does have a relative depth, from the more pungent oil notes to the lighter, fruitier aspects. The citrus notes also liven up the palate, tempering the spruce and complementing the malt sweetness. Candied orange and grapefruit notes are present. Mildly bitter and moderately sweet with caramel and a gritty bread note, this beer is decent.