Hop Project #29
Yazoo Brewing Company

A good three finger plus high head of white foamy lace formed on the top and gradually nestled down into a layer of lace across the top that was about an inch of so high. Some carbonation could be seen streaming up towards the top replenishing the foam and adding to the nice rings of side glass lace.

The aroma was somewhat light, but defiantly very hoppy. A light crisp whiff of orange and grapefruit was the first thing you noticed upon pouring it, with a delicate touch of sweetness in the back trying to mellow it all out. The flavor was pretty decent, but again it did suffer a tad due to the lightness of it. The flavor really could have used a little more of a pop to it, it just seemed to leave itself a tad bit flat. What was there was a nice blend of citrus floral hops that were over laced with a bit of sweetness and a nice touch of some light fruity yeast on top of that. Very nice light body and ample carbonation led to a nice smooth and yet crisp and quick feel. It had a very nice light body and with ample carbonation it could easily be called a pale ale as opposed to an IPA. To me it was just lacking in the big hop bite that you would like to see in a west coast IPA, but this can only had to the overall drinkability.

Thanks goes out to JohnQVegas for this one.

Bottled On: 4th week April

Pours a nice hazy dark copper color, nice carbonation, little fizzy off-white head, with some sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with some hop notes, and some citrus. The taste is malty, slightly hoppy, nice little touch of citrus, very slight bitterness. Medium body. Drinkable, I was expecting more.

Bottle into Sam Adams lager glass, marked Wk 4/April. First Hop Project in the new sixpack holders, and I must say, they look great!

Pours clear deep copper, with a one-finger light-khaki head that settles in to a soapy coating on top fairly quickly. Light lacing on the way down. Color on this one is, as always, gorgeous.

Nose has a particularly pungent, herbal kick to it this time around, some grapefruit, with a bready, caramel base shining through clearly.

Woo, loads of pine on the first sip. Deeply herbal, with a bit of grapefruit rind coming through. Resiny and green, over a deep, bready, sweet but balanced caramel malt body that does this one justice. Some fruity esters creeping into the picture as well, blending into the pungent hop panorama. Bitterness on the finish is mild to moderate, pungent, creeping northwards as the glass progresses, with more of those fruity esters, lingering bready caramel sweetness.

Mouthfeel sports light to moderate carbonation, medium-full bodied, feels just a bit heavy at times, with a deep, penetrating pungent bitterness on the finish by the end of the glass.

Drinkability is ok; flavorful, balanced, and intriguing. As I've had several of these now, I like how Yazoo has established an identity for the Hop Project series and tweaks it without leaving it behind. The pungency that seems to be a common theme is kind of an acquired taste, I think - I found it disconcerting and even unpleasant initially, but lately, I find it pretty tasty. Homer? Sure, why not, if that's what you want to call an adapting palate.

This is the batch with a bottled on of:
The 4th week of April

I got this in a nice box from the magnanimous and amicable JohnQVegas. He sent me some of batch 28 previously, but I didn't know what batch they were, so I didn't review them. But now I get to add #29 on to the site.

I poured this into a standard pint glass and tried to give it a vigorous enough pour to get a decent head-- mission accomplished. This is picturesque. The head rose just to the threshold of the top of the glass before stopping, just shy of overflowing. The head is thick and sticky looking. A creamy beige 2 fingers sits a top a deep, brilliantly clear coppery amber colored brew with plenty of streaming columns of carbonation flowing through. Upon taking a sip, I notice how thick the ring of lacing is, it looks great. This is slightly darker than is my normal preference, but nonetheless, looks quite appetizing.

I smell a sweet bready malt that doesn't taste quite as strong as the smell would indicate-- it's there, but much more balanced. Also some fresh floral/citrusy hops are there, in both the nose and taste. As far as it goes, this one seems more balanced and malty when compared to batch 28, and yet this is equally as enjoyable. The bitterness on the finish is surprisingly smooth. It lingers because of the way the beer coats your mouth-- leaving your teeth feeling oily and sticky.

The body is middle of the road-- medium body, adequate carbonation-- nothing jumps out as incredible, but nothing is unpleasant either.

Overall-- a solid IPA that would certainly be something to crack open while, I don't know, say, grilling some bratwurst while your 2 year old plays with a giant toy dump truck he got today for no apparent reason. I actually drank 3 bottles since coming home from work, and after finishing all three, I've looked in the fridge to pick something else out... And despite all the variety of awesome beer I have in there, I didn't want anything but another of these. Well, I guess that means I'm done for the night, because I only got 3 of these!