Fresh Hop Ale
Flying Dog Brewery

 

 

On-tap at Pizza Port San Clemente.

A: The pour is a clear golden color with a finger of white head that exhibits pretty decent retention.

S: Smells incredibly bread forward for an IPA. Some grassy hop notes in the background, but not very fragrant at all. After that, just some more bread.

T: There is at least a little bit of pine flavor in the beer, but still mostly that faint grassy touch to it. Lots of malts which are primarily the bread variety and maybe slightly toasted.

M: The body is medium with a moderate level of carbonation.

D: Not really sure about this beer. As an IPA, it's certainly awful. Even as a pale ale, it's not all that good.

Pours a hazy orange-ish color with some yellow hints, with a white head. In the aroma, fresh hops and a gritty grain. In the taste, a fresh, pine hop presence, with a malty balance. A bitter and medium bodied mouthfeel, with a fresh, dry pine hop in the aftertaste. A nice fresh hop and a bigger malt balance than though.

Pours a layer of white head with good retention and some lace rings. Color is a clear golden orange.

Aroma: Very muted. Caramel bready malts. Earthy hops at a minimum. Not hoppy at all. Small layer of citrus shows.

Taste: Where are the frickin' hops? There are no hops at all. Grassy and weedy. Bready and malts show all the way. The faintest flavor of citrus shows.

Mouthfeel: Creamy a little bitterness, bland. Medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends sticky in a bad way.

Overall, this is a terrible fresh hop ale. Not drinkable at all. Hardy any hops shows. Weak. Definitely not drinking much of this.

Draft. Sampled at MN Autumn Brew Review. Poured a clear amber golden color with a slight white head. The nose was surprisingly non existant to be honest. Only a slight hop presence. The taste was more like a very subdued pale ale in that I expected a strong hop presence but there is none. The taste is just slightly sweet up front with a tiny little hop bite. Where's the hops?! I had my sample but was not going back for another round of this one. Medium/light mouthfeel.

On tap at Judge's Bench the other day. This is one of several local breweries making a fresh, wet hop IPA with hops taken from a local farm in Mt. Airy, Md.

The beer pours a honey amber color with good head retention and considerable lacing. The beer looks pretty good, but that was to be as good as things get. The nose right off was kind of odd I thought, with sort of a rootbeer, sweet malt and light honey aroma. Not much of a hop presence in the nose, though the beer doesn't smell bad. On the palate, I was completely underwhelmed by this beer. The flavor profile is really pretty light, with some light bitterness and dry rootbeer flavors. It's just not working for me, and I have to wonder if some of the odd flavors I'm getting are the result of the locally grown hops. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and the finish is fairly smooth. Drinkabilty is OK I guess, but I just didn't find this beer particularly interesting or pleasing. Not impressed by this one...