I had one of these last year when my buddy brought a bomber with him to our white water rafting trip and I thought it was really good. But, it was limited release back then. Now, it's available year round and in a 6-pack so sissy-boys like me who don't want to down a bomber on a work night can enjoy them
I skipped TKD tonight to hang out at home and just chill.....it was needed. I had one of these the other night with my best friend and it was just as good as I remembered it. I think my glass was dirty because the one I had at his place had a great head on it but mine tonight didn't. Oh well, not a big deal. It pours crystal clear although I didn't want for the beer & glass to equalize with the temp so the condensation went away before taking the picture - that would mean it would be longer before I could drink it. It wasn't quite as dark red as this picture makes it out to be, but it has a healthy dose of Munich in it that does give it a rich copper color.
The aroma is what you would expect from Citra and Mosiac. Citrus aromas upfront and this just smells "juicy" if you can imagine that. There's no alcohol heat nor anything but hop goodness in the aroma. The taste is slightly malty upfront, tasting of Munich, then smoothly transitioning into pure hop flavor that is citrus-sweet and bright. There's almost no bitterness at all some I'm not sure how much the pure hop-head crowd will like this, but I love it.
Paul, this has much more body than GoTo so this could almost be a session beer for you if you forget that it's 6.4%. The 60 IBUs are certainly not perceived IMO. It's offset with malt perfectly, but not quite as malt-heavy as most East Coast IPAs that I've had.
It seems that I've been lucky to get my hands on some REALLY good beers lately, and this is another one. Now that it is available year-round I can picture myself having these around a lot, too. So many beers to enjoy - life is good, my friends.
Oh, and they even share a homebrew recipe on their site, although not quite as specific as we'd all like
Recipe type: All grain
Batch size: 5 U.S. gallons
Original gravity: 1.065-1.075
Final gravity: 1.015-1.025
Boil time: 90 minutes
Fermentation temp: 65° F
Yeast type: American Ale
MALT
Pale
Crystal - 75
Munich
HOPS
Citra
Mosaic
Nugget
**Note: Temps, times and weights are the challenge. Happy Brewing!
