Happy Hops
Russian River Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

510mL bottle (packaged 8/15/2023) into a tulip. Pours a clear pale golden color with a bright white head.

Aroma is a subtle blend of piney, citrusy, and floral hops. Lemon zest, clean pale malt.

Taste is sharply bright and hoppy with a clean bitter but not resinous finish. Neutral pale malt. More lemon zest and prickly alpha acids.

Mouthfeel is medium-light bodied, finishes clean.

Overall a well-crafted, straightforward, refreshing IPA.

Poured from a 510ml bottle dated 7-6-23 into a tulip glass.

Look- Pale straw, moderately hazy, creamy white head, plentiful visible particulate, active carbonation, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Floral, pine resin, grapefruit, mildly dank, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Grapefruit, pine resin, slight apricot, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Between thin and medium body, above average carbonation, moderately bitter, moderately creamy, crisp, mildly dry finish.

Overall- Pale straw and moderately hazy with plentiful visible particulate. Bouquet was pine resin, grapefruit and floral with dank notes. Flavor was grapefruit and pine resin with a slight apricot character. Body was between thin and medium with moderate creaminess and a crisp mildly dry finish. Overall this beer provided a very enjoyable drinking experience. It was a classic West Coast style IPA with great flavor at just 6.5% ABV.

1 PINT, 1.25 FL OZ bottle
Served in an imperial nonic pint glass

This beer pours a brilliant golden hue and is topped with a couple inches of beige head that coats the side of the glass leaving rings of lacing as I imbibe.

It has a nice, old-school grapefruit and pine aroma.

Citrus and pine flavor. Citrus upfront with a focus on grapefruit. Resiny pine on the back end with a lingering bitterness.

Medium bodied with an effervescent mouthfeel

I really enjoyed this beer. Just a nice, simple hoppy IPA.

 

Chill hazed burnt gold with an unevenly short white head that dissipates quickly.

Surprisingly subtle for some Russian River hops, it's lightly pungent with an almost cornbready malt, a bit of an herbally European floral quality and a touch of citrus.

Beautifully dry though.

 

Pours a clear yellow bubbles feeding a small bar pour white head, great lace given it was bar pour. Aroma is bright citrus, tropical hints, sweetness from the malt. Light but hoppy smelling. Taste follows the nose light bright west coast style, citrus, light tropical, pine needle notes medium bitterness. Mouthfeel is lighter side pretty peppy carbonation. Overall pretty tasty.

Bottle. White head with lace. Clear golden color.

Nice west coast ipa. Dank, weedy, piney, resiny. Also has some citrus and peach flavor. Nice hop combo and bitterness here. Clean, lower abv. Very enjoyable pint of beer.

 

 

 

 

Had on tap. Pours clear, gold in color with one third inch head. Taste is piney hops and starfruit. Medium body, bitter, moderate carbonation. Everything a west coast ipa should be. Nice and crisp.

Pours clear, golden, with a short white head that fades quickly to a thin cap. Nose is pine and lemon citrus, flavor adds promised tropical fruits of pineapple and guava, with a very bright, bitter finish. Moderate weight and a clean close. Lovely.

Poured from 510mL bottle into a dimpled mug. Bottled 2/21/23, so only a couple of weeks old.

Appearance: light golden hue with a dash of haze and a thick finger of frothy ivory foam leaving a nice lace on the glass.

Smell: earthy, grassy hops atop a lightly sweet malt base. There's a light fruitiness to the hops; perhaps a hint of lemon or something.

Taste: sweetish base malt with what seems like it might be a hint of diacetyl. It's not overpowering at all, and doesn't detract too much from the flavor, but I definitely think it's there. Hops are bright, lemongrassy, somewhat earthy, and quite fresh tasting. I like it.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good level of carbonation and creaminess for the style.

Overall: it's actually a pretty solid IPA -- I shouldn't have even mentioned the diacetyl. It's so low as to almost not be there, and even perhaps comes off a little bit as a vanillin-like flavor. Anyway, it's a solid IPA, and I'm glad Russian River is back in Washington!

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a light to medium golden amber with a two finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of pale malt with a touch of caramel, citrus, dank and lightly tropical hops, orange, mixed stone fruit and some grapefruit.Flavor is pale malt, citrus and dank hops, grapefruit, lemon, mild light stone fruit and little pine in the finish. Unexpected modest bitterness after the amazing hoppy aroma. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. The first whiff of this reminded me of the first time I opened Pliny the Elder a decade or more ago. Russian River has not lost its ability to produce wonderful hop aromas from their ales. The taste is less intense then Pliny, but with solid, old fashioned citrus and pine character but with some stone and hints of tropical fruit. A surprisingly light bitterness in the finish. Satisfactory, but not what I expected from the initial taste and aroma. This may be a good introduction to Russian River for hazy IPA fans who appreciate mellow bitterness and lots of herbal hop flavors. I hopefully will be able to score a bottle of Pliny in the near future; it has sold out within minutes at local stores after being reintroduced to Washington after years of absence. Opening this bottle makes me want to experience Pliny the Elder again. It was a revelation in my early craft days.