Selection Series, Simcoe
Block 15 Brewing - Southtown Tap Room

 

All of this series pours the same color with differences in the head. You notice the aroma of pine resin and stone fruit. The taste is definitely pine, though not overly strong and light fruit. Not a bad brew.

Look: Hazy yellow with a huge, frothy head that erupts to the rim and holds, slowly settling and leaving behind fantastic lacing
Aroma: Pine, oranges, tangelos, grapefruit, wafts of Cannabis, light earthy notes, berries, diesel, and sweet bready malt
Taste: Starts off with berries and a swath of citrus fruit goodness that hold for a second before earthy and pine notes join the party. Dank and diesel become prominent in the middle and pine returns to the forefront to close it out
Mouthfeel: Full, slick, medium-high carbonation, and light but felt dryness on the finish
Overall: This is tasty stuff. I thought I missed the Simcoe version of this series for two years in a row until my dad scored me one of this years’ and I couldn’t be more excited as Simcoe is my favorite hop varietal of the newer-age ones. Lots of pine, citrus, dank, and some berries sum this one up and even at two months old, it’s still a winner

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a very haze, nearly opaque, golden amber with a big 4 finger white head with good retention and nice lacing. Aroma of pale malt, lemon, grapefruit, green onion, melon and vague mixed fruit; lightly dank. Flavor is pale malt, cantaloupe, lemon, faint tangerine, light peach and red berries. Soft, lightly bitter finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. I've been on and off with this series, they smell and look great and it's fun to try the different hop varieties. Block 15 has done a good job of presenting the farms who grow each variety, which is great. Unfortunately, it's a crapshoot whether the result is a classic NE IPA with soft hop bitterness, or a hybrid with hop complexity and a some good IPA bitterness. Sadly for me, this is the former. The flavor is great, if a bit muddled, in fruit flavors and I still really liked the initial taste, but as the finish kicked in, it was the disappointment of modest alpha oil character. I've grown quite fond of Simcoe hops and hope to find a classic IPA with primarily Simcoe hops. I find the new trend in hazy, soft IPAs very frustrating because I really do like the looks, aroma and more complex taste of the unfiltered ales, but only really end up wanting to try the hoppy bitter ones again. Since almost all of these are one-offs now, the chance to see a favorite one again is slim. Alas. Classic hazy IPA fans should find a lot to like in this one.