Epic - Armadillo Comet: This new Imperial west coast style IPA from Epic features Amarillo and Comet hops. Aroma is orange - almost sweet, hints of piney notes accompanying. A light toasty aroma underneath. Taste has the citrus rind (orange) biting up front, backed by some floral and orange juice flavors. The floral appears mostly as aroma that accompanies each swish in the mouth. There is sufficient malt presence, toasty bread, to provide the needed balance, but clearly the hops are the name of the game with this beer. The beer is not bitter for the first sip or two, but the bitterness builds with each successive drink to become a quite bitter beer. The aftertaste lingers for a long while. 9.5% - This doesn't hit shelves until Monday.
RoHa Steady Edge: A deep copper colored beer with an aroma of sweet, caramelized brown sugar. Floral hops give way to a pleasant alcohol while warmth brings out pinesap. Bitterness is high and contrasted by equally high sweetness. The flavors generally follow the nose with emphasis on the caramelized sugar that is just short of burnt. Warmth reveals dates, while a long finish has modest strength playing to the caramel and alcohol. The alcohol is as expected and just short of warm. The silky texture and full body allow fine carbonation to transition from prickly to creamy. Residual sugars are less than expected. 7.9%
Fisher - Angling for a Cure: This is a collaboration beer made with Jamie Burnham of Beer Nut/Kiitos/Ogden's Own fame. A portion of the proceeds of this beer will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a charity that is very dear to her. This red ale has a sturdy malty aroma with some spicy notes laying in the background. On the initial taste, one might discover this to be better than the average red. Notes of brown sugar, burnt malts, and a certain spiciness occupy the initial taste. From this point, the taste evolves into a dry malt aftertaste. In the overall scope, I like this one a great deal. 5.0% Only at Fisher begins this Saturday in cans and draft.
Fisher Sunny Haze: Hoppy with a lot of pine. Some grapefruit and floral notes in the nose as well. Grapefruit is stronger than in the nose. Pine notes as well as vague citrus. Good stuff. 5.0% - Available at Fisher
Bewilder - In the Barrel and Bock: Primarily bourbon and toffee in the nose. There's a little bit of oak and dark fruit too. Taste follows the nose, with toffee upfront, followed by vanilla. Mild cherry and tobacco flavors follow. Dark fruit undertones. The flavor components here meld almost seamlessly. Some sherry-like booziness comes through towards the finish as this beer warms up. Really tasty stuff. 11.0% - This is a very limited release and is available starting today.
Roosters - Mulletbrau: This is a lager hopped with Cascade and made with flaked rice. This debuts Saturday.
Red Rock - 9 -2 -5: The Pink Boots hop blend continues in this new beer from Red Rock. This is a Belgian style golden ale made with fresh peaches oak spirals and was blended with a bit of kettle soured ale for a touch of tartness. 5.0% - Available at all red rock locations.
Uinta - Mountain Lady Dark Ale: This is Uinta's Pink Boots beer entry. I don't have any notes on this as it debuts today. In case you're curious, the Pink Boots blend this year consists of Cashmere, Ahtanum, Citra, Loral and Sabro hops. look for an earthy, herbal and zesty beer. 5.0% - Very limited batch.
Ogden River - Koala Express: Missed this. This is a dry-hopped pilsner made with a blend of New Zealand hops. 5.0% - Only at Ogden River.
Shades - Blueberry Blast Slurry: Tart blueberries and cranberries, lactic acid, and a mild lactic sweetness. This isn't overly sour, but it is quite acidic - mild vanilla here as well. Blueberry tart and dry on the finish. Tasty stuff. 5.0% - At Shades.
Hopkins - Guava Godess: Brewed by the women of Hopkins Brewing Company, this fruited-IPA features locally grown and malted Solstice Pilsner malt and Pink Boots Hop Blend in the dry-hop. Light and refreshing with a beautiful balance of hops and fresh guava. 5.0%
Toasted Barrel - Summer Session IPA: Missed this one. 5.0% - At Toasted Barrel now.
TF - Hazy IPA 3: There's a new hazy IPA that's supposed to debut today. I have no notes on it.
TF - Northern Lights: This is TF's third terpene beer and it's based on terpenes that come from the Northern Lights varietal of cannabis. Terpenes are aromatic oils that color cannabis varieties with distinctive flavors like citrus, berry, mint, and pine. This series of beers are always dankity-dank-dank; on top of being a tasty IPA. This 7.6% beer is sold out to go, available to enjoy in house though.
Shades - Hazy Brah: This is a brand new Hazy IPA from Shades; the folks over there tell me that this stuff will be as chewy as a fresh nug. Shades beers are always extreme, I expect no less from this Galaxy and Mosaic forward IPA. This 7.0% - only at Shades.
Red Rock - Double White Rainbow: This RR's "double wide" version of their White Rainbow WIPA. Dialed up to 8.4%, this beer promises a "wallop" of hop intensity with a smack of chewy Belgian yeast spiciness. Available at All Red Rock locations today.
Hopkins -Not-Another-IPA: This New England-style is double dry-hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Centennial, and Cascade to give it a glorious aroma and flavor of tropical fruit, fresh-squeezed juice, orange peel and a touch of bitterness from Zeus hops. Hopkins used local Solstice Mild, red wheat, flaked rye and a touch of Aromatic Malt to give it a light malty backbone. 5.0% - only at Hopkins.
Brasserie del la Senne - Ouden Vat: This Belgian sour features lemon and sour cherry with hints of balsamic and light sweet caramel. Moderate earthy funky flavor. 6.7% - Found at Slackwater (Sandy).
Here are this week's Small Batch beers from Hopkins. Click for larger view.
Cheers!
