C:/Hops
Brewsters Brewing Company & Restaurant - Eleventh Avenue

 

The latest rotating tap offering to show up at my neighborhood Brewsters, this deep and dark take on IPA arrived in a 16 oz. pint glass, a dark honey color with minimal off-white foam. Notably darker than other non-double IPAs I've encountered. Smell is quite malt-forward, toasty and with a dark molasses sweetness with hints of candied grapefuit, sour lemon, and sweet red berries. Tastes far less sweet than it smells. This one has dark, earthy, bitter hopping that recalls some aggressively-hopped English brews but is also quite dank and catty as per the American approach. There is a dry burlap sack bitterness that pervades the whole experience, along with some of the fruitiness that appeared on the nose ... A leafy herbal flavor that veers into scallion territory, peppery spice, and woody pine in the finish. Toffee-like malts and a lingering apricot kernel sweetness do eventually arrive on the scene. The disjunct between the fruity smell and the earthy pungent taste is either jarring or fascinating, not sure I can decide which. Both I suppose. Moderate carbonation and thinnish body that again provides a contrast with the strong flavors. I'd argue that this one lacks balance but certainly has some unique character.

16oz industry pint at the Oliver location. Awesome name, though I'd have preferred a simpler /root/drivers/hops.

This beer appears a cloudy, murky bronzed amber hue, with one skinny finger of bubbly, loosely foamy off-white head, which leaves some random skewed web lace around the glass as it all drops away.

It smells of mildly bitter citrus - grapefruit pith, orange jam, and a touch of tropical edginess - astringent pine resin, caramel/toffee malt, and a wee bit of warming alcohol. The taste is bitter leafy, citrus hops, the fruit big, but pretty muddled, maybe some musty orange and overripe kiwi discernible, with a hearty, yet pithy caramel malt backbone taking its place on the near back burner.

The carbonation is fairly underwelming, the body a decent medium weight, and adequately smooth. It finishes off-dry, the hops easing off to a certain degree, while the fruit and malt steady the course.

An approachable, and duly conquerable IPA - there's good stuff here for the hophead in the bunch (full disclosure - that's me!), as well as those perhaps a tad less inclined to the merits of floral-based deflowering of one's palate. Sessionable? The ABV sez not really, but the flavour has an irrefutable rebuttal. Drink me!