All in Time
Tonewood Brewing - Barrington

Tonewood Brewing "All In Time"
16 fl. oz. can without production codes of freshness dating
$5.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: It's poured a cloudy golden body with a bit of an orange sheen beneath a finger's width of white foam. The aroma is loaded with hoppy fruitiness that seems to indicate at least Mosaic hops. There's a distinct berry-like note that stick out to me. Beyond that it's citrusy/tropical, softly piney, and just a touch floral. On to the taste... the berry stands out again. It's like strawberry and blueberry combined, and that has to be coming from Mosaic hops. The floral character is stronger, as is the tropical side. I'm getting pineapple and mango, and soft orange and grapefruit. It remains a little bit piney as well. The malt is golden but definitely contains some oats. There's some grassiness to it so I'm guessing it's Pilsner malt but that could also be coming from the hops. Ha ha ha! It says right on the side of the can that it's Pilsner, wheat, rolled oats, and Vienna malt, as well as Chinook, Mosaic, and Simcoe for the hops. Yep, that sounds about right! It's 8.2% ABV and labeled as a "Modern Double India Pale Ale" which I guess is a way of saying NE DIPA. With that noted, it's not that bitter but there's enough, and there's some hop burn to it as well. That, combined with the alcohol that's there, is enough to balance it and bring it to a 'spicy' finish. It's full-medium in body and crisp with a fine-bubbled carbonation that bristles at first (also partially due to the hop burn and alcohol) but then softens to become smooth. I have no compaints about this one other than the fact that the head didn't really hold up that well and thus left little behind in the way of lacing. It's got more hop aroma to it than most DIPAs, and the flavor is really well balanced and rounded. Kudos!
Review #8,701

So far, there's little reason to like this one. A chilled pint can's contents have been emptied into a clear glass Imperial pint mug. Chilled, the head is ridiculous and it could only be worse if the brew was more pleasantly closer to cellar temperature. The big, puffy, foamy and unattractive head such as this, is often the result of too much wheat in the wort. Experience tells that will also negatively effect taste and mouthfeel. Redundant to the problem, the big starchy white mess is receding unevenly, unattractively and with sparce glass lacing. Its color is mildly redeeming, as it's a dull and cloudy golden amber. The smell is of muted hops, so muted it's hard to know what to expect. Likely, it will be thinly bitter and without any layering, if to see it is to know it. By tasting, it becomes obvious that the culprit here isn't just wheat, but oats. This drinks blandly, although the body is OK. Oats can make a wonderful softening agent, when used in the right proportion. They also rarely hurt the mouthfeel. This is an enigma where nothing works well. There's no malt backbone, which is mandatory for a great Double IPA. There's almost as much of a cereal grain aspect to taste as there is hops. The hops are muddled and only at the finish do they appear slightly bitter and slightly dry, in an ambiguous way. If there's a complement, the ABV is nicely integrated. This is a good brewery and this isn't a good beer.