Toppling Goliath XHops Experiment

Still do not know what trolling is. Tasted like rotten fruit with a odd aftertaste. I am no Toppling Goliath hater just look at my reviews. As for pouring it out, my wife did not like it so I could not give it to her. I am not about to force myself drink that much beer I flat out hated. Will throw my review up later.

 

On a different note, loved the yellow. Put up reviews of both.

 

Blue was pretty boring, but would lend itself well to a nice crackery lager. Had a nice citrusy lemon-lime component that would work well, but also had a bit of a funky bleu cheese going for it. Certainly not something I would enjoy in a pale ale, but I think that hop has potential. I could see it being a drain pour for some. Why waste the calories on a beer if you don't like it?

 

Was lucky enough to get my hands on two bottles. Des Moines just has the unfortunate lot of being the furthest market for TG, and we get one of the smallest allotments. Makes it tough to get your hands on their stuff. I also heard a theory from someone that they think everyone heads to Ankeny #2 when the truck is posting about being in Ames, because like 50 people showed up right after that.

Anyway, I loved yellow. Blue was ok, though it was definitely NOT a drain pour.

I think right now I'm leaning towards Red > Yellow > Green > Blue. I would buy the heck out of red and yellow, they were awesome!

 

What was the price in Des Moines. Someone picked me up a bottle and I want to pay them for it, but she won't tell me how much it was.

 

I must have missed something with Yellow - I didn't care for it at all. The smell was amazing, almost citra-like, but the taste was very vegetal with a lot of green pepper flavor (2 other folks I was with both agreed). I had a hard time finishing a small pour.

 

$6.99....at Ankeny #2 anyway.

 

Weird. It tasted all tropical with melon undertones to me. I thought it was great.

 

I just had the Blue. I thought at first I would not enjoy it. It has that weird dank, rotton melon and grapey smell to it, like a really muted Nelson Sauvin heavy beer (not as offensive). I'm not a huge fan of NS, but the flavor didn't have that as much. It is a pretty weak hop IMO and not really well served in a Pale Ale. Flavor is lighter dankness with ripe pineapple, mango and a little melon. As it warmed it became more like a weak NS hop with a little of that overripe/rotten fruity flavor. I enjoyed it well enough but I wouldn't pick it off the shelf as a pale ale.

I can't help but think the hop is likely a high AA bittering variety with little flavor, thus less was used to achieve the same bitterness as the rest of the series and this is why there is no flavor. If it is a lower AA hop it is very weak in terms of flavor and smell and might need to be returned to sender! I think it could work great as a bittering hop if it is indeed high AA but if it is not then this hop is a non-starter IMO.

 

Just had the Blue and Im not sure about all the dislike? Its really subtle compared to the others but I think it would be a perfect summer seasonal! Its an easy drinker all day long. Have a yellow that I haven't tried yet but so far red is my favorite!

 

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback! There's definitely some risk in doing the X-Hops experiment in the way that we are (bottling and spreading out to as many people as possible, a completely unknown product). All X-Hops are receiving the same #/bbl of dry hop, and the IBU's on each are as close as possible. Some of these are high oil and high alpha, some are high alpha and lower oil. Would adjustments be made if any of these hops were used again? Absolutely!

Some of these hops are better than others, but I for one, am glad hop growers are continually working on developing new and interesting varieties. You never know when one will end up being the next Citra or Mosaic...

-Mike

 

XHops Orange and a 2nd run of XHops Red will be bottled next week. Then they are going to produce a beer that is a mix of all 5 hop varieties!

 

Yeah, I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. Red and Yellow were the best

 

Nothing wrong with it but nothing special either. Way better beers to enjoy.

Can't wait to try the Orange one!

 

just picked up a case with a mix of red, blue, yellow, and orange and some Zeelander (got more red than anything else). The orange is sweeter than the others but very good! Red is by far my favorite followed by orange!

 

Was at the taproom today. Got 2 cases of Sue and some Xhops Red, Yellow, and Zeelander. Had a bottle of Orange in the taproom and that was enough for me. Red and Yellow were the best I think. Also Smoove Operator is a GREAT beer.

Drive down to Decorah is a great one and I love doing it. Very relaxing, even with the weather on the way back!

 

Reminds me of a slightly muted Coffee Bender. Fantastic beer indeed. Cheers!

 

Anyone local have a spare green? I was halfway around the world when that one came out and its the only one I'm missing.

 

I made the drive back around 6:00 on Friday. That sucked

 

@Steasy66 Where in MN are you at? I'm in Rochester, but will be up in the cities for work next week.