Hop Fest
Sequoia Brewing Company - Tower District

 

From a sample glass at the brewery.

Hard to detect much aroma other than a generalized mild hoppiness. Apperance was golden orange, standard American Pale Ale color. Sample glass had a ring of off-white head similar to most of the other samples. Decent clarity, just slightly cloudy

Flavor was a little thin and lacking. Had the flavor I describe as "hop tea" from beers that are overhopped and undercarbonated. Had a bitterness that would hit you after a couple of seconds, peaked at 4-5 seconds and lingered quite a while. Beer was definitely undercarbonated and this caused flavor and bitterness to just kind of lay there. I'm sure this hurt the aroma as well.

Medium bodied, but would probably be medium-light with proper carbonation. Some astringency in the finish from the high hop rate.

I see from the other reviews for this beer that it may be inconsistent. I orginally noted that with more carbonation and perhaps a bit of tweaking to the recipe, this could probably be a much better beer. I look forward to rerating this sometime to see how it differs.

Once again Sequoia has brewed another great beer. This is a really nice beer. The beer has really nice amber color, just a little lighter than their Mineral King IPA. The head is a white and very frothy, leaving a nice lace all the way down.

The smell is a nice floral smell with a hint of hops. There is not one type of hop that stands out, just a nice hop smell. The taste is great, almost like a mild IPA. The hop taste is great and the malty balance is really good. I would like the mouthfeel to be just a little thicker, but that's just me.

Over a great beer that you should give a try

This is a pretty darn good beer. I comes on draught, unfiltered to provide you with the best flavors. Nice cloudy [unfiltered] golden color [not quite as dark as their excelent IPA]. Great full pale head. Crisp flavor full of hops but not IPA hoppy. Very well balanced. Another fine beer from Brewmaster Kevin!