Fuck 2020
Abomination Brewing Company

L - Murk, nothing given away on appearance; good lacing, decent head. No complaints.
S - Where this begins to make an impresssion, you can almost smell the creaminess but bitterness on this. I'm already intrigued by the mix of citric and tropics on the nose.
T - Probably its best attribute; full palate, more of that grassy tropical note with serious pineapple and not too sweet mango discernable. very nice.
F - Great carb, good palate fill, not many complaints, finishes with a nice balance for an imperial of this weight; cuts evenly between the sweet juice and the bitterness of an "India" style pale ale.
O - A great beer, to commemorate a really crappy year. ;)

Cloudy, yellow color. Medium-sized, white head. Tropical fruits and malt in the aroma. Moderately sweet, juicy taste with a hoppy finish.

 

On tap at Dive 106 in NYC. Opaque hazed. Flavors are tropical fruit at first with grapefruit bitterness. Light sweetness with a dry finish. Feels really nice on the sip.

 

Cloudy straw appearance with significant white head that dissipates slowly. Aroma is a nice citrus. Taste is a very smooth citrus that is a little thin.

 

 

 

 

16oz canned in late December poured into a nonic;

A: Awesome can art. Pours like semi-pulpy OJ, with a dull gold color and white head with good lacing.

S: Supremely juicy and sweet with notes of peach, mango, and orange juice; tropical citrus juice for sure. Mild impressions of grapefruit and pineapple as well.

T: In line with the nose, not quite epic but very enjoyable; peach, mango, orange, and a light dank green character; pineapple and pink grapefruit underneath...even tangerine juice at times.

MF: Creamy, fluffy, full-bodied, with a light dryness and very mild bitterness and alcohol presence.

O: The malt is present for sure but it really never arrives in the nose and palate with flavors and aromas, its really there to thicken the beer and deliver sweet, juicy hop characteristics to the front. It's almost exactly what I look for in a double hazy, and though the palate and nose fall just short of being one of the best of I've tried, its so solid that I am pushing up the score here.

 

 

Poured from a 16oz can dated 01/04/2021 to a Nonic straight out of the beer fridge.
Super hazy murky orange-juice-like body complete with pulp! (Actually yeast floaties) You can see them in the pour and if you lift a clear glass they have settled prominently on the bottom. Head is medium in height, white, and laces the glass decently during the session. Head stays as single tiny bubble thick cover the entire glass.
Aroma is musty orange peel, hay, and mild lemon.
First sip is disappointing, kind of dank and flat but as my pallet warms up this beer becomes a friend. Orange rind and alcohol but in a good way.
Body is as creamy and thick as can be before it become off putting.
I knew nothing of this brewery when I opened this can and I thought this was a gimmick beer. Fairly impressed.

16oz can into a snifter glass

Look- Hazy pale yellow

Smell- Citrus, light peach aroma

Taste- Follows the nose

Feel- Medium bodied, creamy mouthful, soft

Overall- Good ipa

 

 

 

Cheers to Abomination for a perfectly titled brew, a send off to a forgettable year, with a unforgettable ipa.

This is my second beer from CT-based brewing outfit Abomination, whose Rare Fog triple IPA I reviewed last August for a New Beer Weekend thread. Fuck 2020 is a Citra and Galaxy double-dry-hopped IPA clocking in at a solid 9.1% ABV. It was canned on New Year's Eve, which means this is just over a week old. Hell yeah. Who is this brewery? I have literally never seen anything from them anywhere but at a specific store in Southern New Hampshire. I felt compelled to pick up a can of this and hope that it functions as both a great beer and a fitting send-off to one of the weirdest, shittiest years in recent memory.

The pour here is pretty much what you'd expect from a well-made hazy NEIPA in 2021. It's opaque, dense, golden-orange, stacked high with pillowy and foamy head, and that head leaves behind spectacular lacing and good legs. The surface is appropriately obscured with small islands of suds covering it here and there. Definitely a nice looking brew, especially if you're into this style.

My first sniff of this from the can led me to believe it would be a really fun, intense, and rewarding beer, and as soon as I poured it and smelled the bouquet from my glass, I was convinced once again. It comes forward immediately with strong candied grapefruit, hints of pomelo and tangerine, some mango and guava, and lighter notes of yuzu and passion fruit peppered throughout. Some touches of florals and oily/resinous pine in here at times as well. It's exactly what you'd expect from a Citra/Galaxy beer of this stature.

The flavor profile is a bit of a step back, but it also has an oddly-focused and surprisingly demure aspect to it that took me a little by surprise. I honestly thought this was going to be a straightforward "near-triple IPA," but the way my first sip tasted and felt definitely seemed strange. It feels a little bit more balanced and contemplative than many "aggressive" and brutal beers in this style. I pick up an intriguing mix of soft floral qualities, light bitter pomelo rind, pine resin/sap, and cantaloupe with touches of bitterness and some backing flavors of guava and overripe mango. Grassiness, soft tangerine flesh, and even some hints of earthy spice come out as it warms.

The feel here might be the most polarizing aspect of the whole thing. This is just over 9% ABV, but it drinks like a 6 or 7% IPA. I'm not sure that's a great thing here, in all honesty. There is very little follow-through from these all-star hops on the palate, and I'm left a bit unsatisfied by each sip, which feels pretty disappointing considering how awesome it smells. It's almost too soft, and the transition from the mid-palate to the finish just seems hollow and weirdly-lacking. I am really hoping that this isn't some kind of extended metaphor for 2021 as a whole, because it's started off pretty nice (just like this beer)... here's to hoping it doesn't peter out in some kind of unusual way (also like this beer).