Stargazer
Blackhorse Brewery

 

Big citrusy and juicy hop aroma and flavor with a touch of warm booziness. Good balance with little to no bitterness. Medium to full bodied and fairly smooth.

 

 

Spotted this never-seen-before beer at the local grocery store cooler for $9.99 per 6-pack of cans and decided to try it out. Drank as an 8oz pour from a snifter.

A: Pours a cloudy dark straw color with a minimal, even, white head and no lacing. I like my IPAs slightly more orange/vienna-malty, but that's just personal taste.
S: Pure, sweet tangerine - very clean fruit with no maltiness, yeastiness or off-aromas. Smells very mild for a 9% ABV beer, no solvent punch to the face.
T: Here's where it gets awesome. Malts are perfectly attenuated, giving the absolute minimum sweetness to perfectly back up the hops. Minimal bitterness (as advertised) and loads of tropical flavor: tangerine/mandarin orange, mango, guava. Dreamy.
M: More awesomeness - there's the perfect amount of body here to back up the amount of alcohol and hop aroma this beer packs. I'm incredulous at how smooth this beer goes down - my partner guessed 5% ABV. Not resiny on my teeth or on my vocal chords, not sticky sweet on my tongue.

I don't take the time to review many beers, but if I can continue to get it, this will be my go-to big/New England IPA from here on out - it's the best hoppy beer I've found locally, period. Excited to try more (y'all make any stouts??) from this brewery in the future.

19.2oz can. Poured out a cloudy, golden orange color with a good-sized, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of grapefruit, mango, guava and citrus. Very fruity and tropical with a toasted caramel backbone and subtle bitterness.