Aroma: Bright caramel malts up front with a significant focus on the malt. Medium herbal hop character that reminds us of tea. Malt all day. Flavor: Huge herbal hop character up front very similar to unsweetened black tea. Crystal malts really balance the hop bitterness but is an interesting competition it seems between the sweetness and the hop bitterness. Finishes extremely dry with a really resin and herbal hop character. Overall: Overly dry with a really herbal character that is somewhat off putting. The malt sweetness does provide a slight refuge but it is very short lived. The black herbal/burnt herbal character dominates.
Minnesota’s Surly Brewing has a reputation for brash and unapologetic beers, but head brewer Ben Smith is exploring ways to maximize flavor in IPAs by doing less, not more.
Todd Haug opens up about job security and future opportunities, which factored into his decision to decamp Surly for 3 Floyds.
“Compelling aroma of vanilla, dark fudge, smoke, boysenberry, anise, dried cherry, caramel, coffee. Flavor reveals sweeter hints of sherry, vanilla, caramel, turbinado. Beautifully orchestrated.”
A pronounced hops bitterness on the finish is bracing and almost drowns out the malt profile. Still, for those looking for a helles with hops, this will satisfy. Traditionalists might bemoan the end result. It's hard to have more than two.
**Aroma:** “Pumpernickel biscuit, with rising bread dough yeast notes. Dates and bright stone fruit up front, with slightly hot-ferment aromas and booze coming in at the back. The medium-low roast is evident, with an ever-slight chocolate and malt sweetness.” **Flavor:** “This beer is a nice balance between dark, sweet chocolate, and roasted malt. It has a rich toasted bread-crust character, malty roast, and tobacco leaves. Slightly earthy hops are present on the sides of the tongue, with small alcohol warmth at the back, and a lingering roast astringency. Some backend fruity esters emerge as it warms. A nice body carries the beer well, and the carbonation is spot on.” **Overall:** “An incredible, complex malt profile that challenges the senses but is still delightful to drink, and overall a good beer that has some complexity throughout. It’s woody, cinnamon, earthy, and roasty, with tobacco—like chewing a cigar while eating a chocolate-covered raisin.”
Minneapolis-based Surly Brewing explains the thirsty back story of their new citrus-packed summertime crusher.
Thick molasses nose, rich chocolate cream, savory roast nuts, toasted marshmallow. Luxurious, cottony texture, like drinking taffy.
Aromas of bourbon, dark cherry, raisin. Soft malt complexity across the palate with a heavy sweetness. Dark-fruit notes through the retronasal. Big splash of bourbon and cherry at the finish. Some alcohol warmth at the end.
Aroma: “Big hops nose—I’m guessing Citra. Strong citrus, tangerine bordering on lime, along with some mango, a touch of papaya, and hints of strawberry and peach. Fruity esters, bready malt foundation.” Flavor: “The hops flavor hits with a strong citrus, then fades for a moment to come back as tropical fruit. Punctuated by a fairly clear bitterness that lingers just a bit. The fruit and a bit of returning lime create a lasting aftertaste. Moderate carbonation mixes with the hops to create a pleasant bite at the end of the sip.” Overall: “A great example of distinctive hops character. The base beer is simple and well-made and is just enough to balance but not otherwise distract from the hops character. The prominent fruity hops go all the way through from aroma to flavor to aftertaste and offer enough depth to keep things interesting. Light and thirst quenching.”
Aroma: “Citrus, lemon and orange mostly, along with some pine, candied peach, and candied orange. It’s slightly woody and fairly minty on retronasal. Some spiciness.” Flavor: “Lemony, but some grapefruit pith, too. Some resinous pine. Sharp bitterness locks onto the tongue and lasts forever. Some hops astringency. Fairly dry all the way through. Aggressive hops are accentuated by the sharp carbonic acid bite.” Overall: “A strong West Coast thing. A throwback to the early days of American strong IPAs.”
Fresh, clean, tropical aromas: orange, mango, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, with light lemon and pine. Moderate-to-high bitterness, playing well with intensely perceived ester sweetness. Pronounced fruit on the palate. Lingering stickiness.
Slight haze, tropical nose with layers of strawberry, citrus, and a touch of dankness. Perfect body with the tropical hops flavors coming to the front. Juicy fruit finish with lower bitterness than the style calls for. Leans toward the creative juicy side of the style.
“Moderate red-berry aroma (raspberry, strawberry, cherry). The berry theme continues in the flavor with blueberry, dark cherry, orange, and light pine. Throughout, there’s an undercurrent of floral esters that provide a sense of sweetness that plays well with the bitterness.”
These bars still maintain the vibes of a neighborhood dive: just a comfortable, unpretentious, and straightforward bar that also serves really good craft beer.
**Aroma:** “Rich malt sweetness. Full of chocolate and cocoa. Nice roast character and some sweet dark fruit, raisin, plum prune notes. Slight hints of coffee. Well aged—raisins and light alcohol.” **Flavor:** “Rich and full bodied—what an explosion of flavor! It’s very sweet but the alcohol dries out the finish nicely. Everything the nose promised is here: malt complexity, warmth, and fine aging. Roast quality meshes well with the other malt flavors and the raisin/dried fruit richness is welcome. High in alcohol for sure, but the higher alcohol meshes well with the malt and it seems well aged.” **Overall:** “A beautiful example—chewy and rich, designed for sipping, and not too hot. This beer has all of the characteristics of a great imperial stout. It’s rich, complex, roasty, and huge with some obvious age to it. Sweet yet complex with the right amount of bitterness in a supporting role. Smells and tastes like a gift from the back corner of the cellar.”
Aroma: “Light on the malt aromas, but ample with hops. Floral lemongrass and grapefruit mixed with k-lime leaves, dried orange, with some woody spice mixed in for good measure.” Flavor: “Starts with a touch of malt sweetness and light yeast esters and then just drops into an intense hops bomb with a lingering bitterness. Woody, herbal, and like an orange slice in a cup of tea. The malt tries to balance out with a bit of sweetness, but eventually loses out to the sticky bitterness.” Overall: “Dry, crisp, and bitter, but clean and pleasantly complex. A nice balance of a malty sweet backbone and delicate, yet assertive floral and citrus hops complexity. More of a session IPA in terms of the hops level? Regardless, a beer that makes it hard to drink only one.”
“Fantastic hop character from start to finish. Prominent pineapple, grapefruit hops. Nice notes of guava, passion fruit, ripe mango. A bit light in body; tropical and grapefruit pith flavors dominate. Fairly bitter finish works well with the hop aroma and flavor. Almost chewy with a rich creamy mouth, but not particularly sweet.”
“Caramel, toasted malt, and hints of dried dark fruit in the aroma. The flavor brings a blast of brown sugar and candied stone fruit that fades into notes of oak, vanilla, and toffee. Alcohol warmth shows up in the finish along with piney bitterness.”
Aroma: “Rich malty base: toffee, caramel, roast/coffee, raisin, dates, milk chocolate, raspberry, toasted marshmallow, and fig. A roasty sharpness cuts through the sweetness.” Flavor: “Raspberry and milk chocolate with some sweet dark cherry and clean roast. Rich and thick body with a fairly dry finish and a slight ethanol burn. Hops bitterness is there, but well hidden to just provide balance. Some lingering bitterness.” Overall: “This is a well-balanced imperial stout on the sweeter side. Lots of fruit notes and dark chocolate as well as caramel come out throughout this beer. Not a lot of those pesky hops to bother you either. Would serve warmer rather than colder.”