Shmaltz - Hop Manna

I don't really know what to say about this beer as I haven't yet heard much about it.  Though I have been impressed with other Shmaltz offerings, such as their Coney Island Lager and their collaboration with Terrapin, the Reunion Ale.  In any case, I approach this beer with nothing but an open mind as I really don't have any other choice.  Well, the label says that it's dry-hopped with the Big 3C of hops (Centennial, Cascade, & Citra), so I suppose I should expect a really nice aroma, right?  One way to find out.  Let's pour!

Aroma 10/12

When the beer is colder than the desired serving temperature, almost all the major players in the aroma come from the malts.  It starts with straw and some neutral, body-giving malts, but also finds caramel and rich dark bread.  As it warms the hops begin to do their thing.  A pine is first, but it is made fresher and more crisp by a light citrus backdrop.  Grass is also easily detectable in this really nice blend of cohesive scents courtesy of a dry-hopping with Centennial, Cascade, and Citra hops.  Despite being dry-hopped, this aroma eventually settles into a pine-forward balance.  Well done.

Appearance 3/3

This beer falls into the glass in a handful or orange and siennas with some citrine accents on the bottom.  Sorry, normally I try to abstain from obscure color references, let alone multiple ones, but those are the colors that come first to mind.  It's capped off by a nice cream-colored head that shows adequate size and retention.

Flavor 17/20

I may have misspoke about the sweetness in the aroma.  Granted, a large portion of it is going to come from the dry-hopping, but now I'm questioning how large a contribution the malts made because they make virtually no contribution to the flavor's sweetness.  Normally, in an IPA one expects a sweet initial wash of flavor to counter the pending hops.  Not in this brew.  It begins with hop bitters and the neutral 2-row malts detected in the aroma.  When sitting in the mouth, I find the beer does just that - sit.  There's not a lot of flavor transition here.  The malts add some biscuity goodness, which adds a nice crispness to a style than can quickly become far too sweet, and there are some grassy hops with a citrus tinge, but that's about it.  This is closer to a pale ale/APA than an IPA in my book.  The finish is essentially a continuation of the backbone - dry, bisuity malts and a citrus backsplash - but for the first time we are shown a bit of the resin and it is a welcome arrival.

Mouthfeel 5/5

The 2-row malts give a nice body, as expected, and the carbonation stays largely out of the way, keeping this beer smooth, appropriately-bodied, and very drinkable.  The 6.8% ABV is never a factor.

Overall Impression 8/10

For an IPA, especially one entitled "Hop Manna," this brew comes across as a little light as far as hops are concerned.  Certainly, not a bad beer, but could easily make a name for itself in the craft beer world with a bit more "oomph."  It has a great, ever-changing aroma and a solid mouthfeel, but the flavor didn't knock me out for a 22 oz. bomber bragging about its hops.

Total 42/50

Now, I may have been a little negative about this beer and its lack of hops, however, it is far from a bad beer.  In fact, as a pale ale or even a APA this beer would rival anything on the market, ranking right up beside such powerhouses as Three Floyds' Alpha King.  As it stands, the hops were not nearly aggressive enough (faded?) and the beer didn't offer that IPA malty sweetness.  I'll remember this brew as a remarkable pale ale and recommend it to people as such.  It might not have been what Shmaltz was aiming for, but they hit a target nonetheless.  L'Chaim!

Mikkeller - I Hardcore You

I enjoyed the description of this beer from the Brewdog Blog so much that I'm just going to quote it here,

"I Hardcore You is a 9.5% Imperial India Pale Ale, an international collaborative effort between 2 of Europe's most rock 'n roll brewers. This beer is a blend of BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller’s I Beat You. After the blending, the beer was then dry hopped a further twice. Making I Hardcore You a beer which has been dry hopped four times, or maybe even six times. We kinda lost count."

Oh, and from what I can tell, this was a one-time brew collaboration between the two that was originally brewed back in mid-2010, but recently enjoyed a resurgence in May of 2012.  I appreciate Mikkeller more every time and drink it and while my experience with Brew Dog is limited, I haven't been disappointed yet.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12

There's a great citrus blend happening here and rushes out as soon as the cap is pried.  At first the nose is sweet with honey, but in short time the citrus blend harmonizes with it and the results are splendid.  The citrus fruits are pineapple, lemon, and some lesser mandarin oranges.  There is a funk behind it all that comes across as a bit earthier than normal and some distant hop notes of grass and a little spice.  The beer begins to warm a bit and that funk note from earlier has started to open into a full resiny blossom.  It never overtakes the citrus/honey blend, but it is a concentrated, dark smell that hopefully translates into a big, hoppy flavor.  Other aromas are hints of the alcohol and a toffee-like malt that blends so well with the sweet hops that it is difficult to nail down what exactly it smells like.

Appearance 2/3

This beer pours and sits in the glass the color of dark honey.  It is an all-but-opaque cloudy glass full of orange-browns and rusty hues.  The head was fairly long lasting, a nice almond color, and possessed a nice fluffy texture.  While one can't give it points for a range of color, it certainly looks ominous and give the impression that this IIPA means business.

Flavor 18/20

It definitely does not start out as sweet as the aroma, but with a lot of dry-hopping I suppose that's to be expected.  However, sweetness is still the first characteristic detected.  It's more of the toffee from the aroma, but with a bright citrus note immediately behind and trying to upstage it at every chance it gets.  The toffee persists its way into the backbone of the beer and refuses to be tamed.  The brown-sugary toffee has some competition from some orange zest, an early splash of pine, and some resin but nothing that threatens its crown.  As the beer sits in the mouth the resin bitter becomes stronger as does an earthy note from the hops and both lead to a more complex finish.  The beer washes down with a mixture of orange and caramel, but not without a strong earthy note and some pepper.  The aftertaste is lingering earthy resin which trumps the alcohol by leaving the mouth watering and not dry.

Mouthfeel 5/5

Very smooth and extremely full-bodied, in true IIPA fashion this beer offers very little carbonation to play on the tongue.  The alcohol is mostly camouflaged throughout the beer, becoming noticeable in only the aroma and the aftertaste.  Feels like a big ol' IIPA should.

Stolen directly from the BrewDog website.

Overall Impression 8/10

While this beer wasn't as laden with hop flavor as I had imagined, the balance in it was impressive.  This wasn't a hop bomb, though it certainly is hoppy.  It was more of a huge, balanced, IPA.  The malts were definitely sweet and served their purpose, but I feel the hop FLAVORS (not their aroma nor their bitter) suffered in turn.  In the same vein, while this beer balanced the malt and the hops well, it never really bothered to blend them except in the aroma.  It's more of a meeting of the "immovable object" and the "unstoppable force" instead of a cohesive blend between these two powerhouse flavors.  That said, it's still remarkably tasty and I'd easily like to have a few bottles on hand for a rainy day.

Total 44/50

I'm pretty sure I said in all in the "Overall Impression" section.  This beer is big, tasty, hoppy, and sweet.  The aroma is fantastic and seems to blend all the good things that are happening in this beer.  Unfortunately, for the flavor, the blending is not as successful.  It's like two semis colliding in your mouth; the results are pretty kick ass, but I can't help but wonder what this beer would've been like had the two powerhouses decided to work together.  The aroma shows it can be done - those flavors go great together!  Now it's just a matter of getting these two great breweries to tweak the recipe ever so slightly before the next release of I Hardcore You.  Right brewmasters?  Next release?  Eh?  Hopefully we can all see this again in two years.

Also stolen.

Bent River - Dry Hopped Pale Ale

If I'm spending the entire day in the Quad Cities unsupervised, you better believe that I'm going to be hitting up some great local craft beer!  Today's review is for Bent River's Dry Hopped Pale Ale.  I didn't have a camera with me that day, so I apologize for the lack of pictures.  Before I start this review, let me just say that I can't wait until this brewery has an opportunity to be "discovered" on a larger scale.  Let's pour!

Pic blatantly stolen from their website.

Aroma 11/12

This absolutely reminds me of the Bell’s Hopslam I had 2 days ago!  It starts out a bit piney, but quickly turns sweet and eminates aromas of dried pineapples and mango.  The hops in this are amazing and make a veritable tropical fruit salad for your nose.  The best part is… IT’S STILL COLD!  I can’t wait to see what else comes out as this beer warms.

Appearance 2/3

The head wasn’t monstrous, but then again the bartender (whom I just met) made sure that most of the head was poured off for me (good work, Justin).  What head remained appeared white in the dim light of the brewpub and remained as a disk on the beer for as long as I wished.  The color is a dark, earthy, pumpkin orange that glows a bit more golden toward the bottom.  I won’t say that the beer in unfiltered as I don’t see any sediment, but there is certainly a haze at work that under better lighting conditions could lend itself well to displaying a variety of hues.  If I can see that it's cloudy in this light, it must be an extremely cloudy brew.

Flavor 18/20

Only briefly is one exposed to a bright citrus flash before the sweeter, more tropical backbone arrives.   The mangoes from the aroma are abundant as is the candied nature of a dried pineapple, but without any of the pineapple acidity.  To hold the beer in the mouth accentuates a splendid hop bitter that shows a strong presence while going a long way to balance out the tropical sweetness.  The mangoes are present everywhere, even when on the back of the tongue during the finish.  Eventually they fade after the beer is swallowed and a moderate bitter rests on the tongue like a pill you didn’t swallow soon enough.  The after taste is a less intense version of the bitter, with no sweetness, and is somewhat drying.

Mouthfeel 4/5

This is a very full-bodied, big beer!  The heavy body helps rein in all the monster flavors present and gives the carbonation a free pass on being just higher than desirable.  Not in its quantity, but its somewhat prickly nature.  The foaming action in the mouth doesn’t lend any additional smoothness, but does help the experience from becoming too heavy as a whole.

Overall Impression 10/10

I enjoy this beer immensely!  I’ve never encountered hops that provide such a strong flavor & aroma outside of an Imperial IPA.  While this doesn’t have the caramel sweetness that traditionally comes with such a strong hop presence, it is not needed.  The hops in this case provide all the sweetness in a delightful and powerful mango tone.  The only thing needed to balance out those hops is… well, more hops.  The bitter note balances the mango nicely and makes this beer anything but sweet.  The body is also a great attribute to this beer, though easy to overlook after such a striking flavor and aroma.

Total 45/50

In case, you couldn’t tell I really enjoyed this beer.  Technically, it’s not the most complex thing on the planet.  However, the hop presence is soooo delicious in all its forms that I find it hard to justify any sort of lower score.  A beer doesn’t have to be complex to be good, right?  True, it helps, but a beer that can impress me while maintaining its simplicity is also deserving of praise (even if it might be more difficult to achieve a perfect score).  Mango and bitter.  Bitter and mango.  That tandem carries this beer to a delicious success.  If you’re even in the area, find it.  If you like Hopslam, find it.  My next growler is this beer, no questions asked.