Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy, USA

Equilibrium dHop 5

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA
Other Notes: Hop . Science . DIPA

Brewer Description: (from website) dHop5 is a 8.0% DIPA that supersizes one of our favorite Equilibrium IPAs: Fractal Citra/Galaxy. We scaled Fractal’s grain bill, water treatment, fermentation, and super sized the hop bill of citra and galaxy. dHop5 pours a milky yellow releasing aromas of passion fruit, peach, lime, and pineapple all integrated with a sorbet twist. The taste is a bright creamy tropical flavor that is dangerously drinkable and balanced with our signature #EQjuice finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 1 pint can, with no canned on or best before date, but should be released on 20th October 2020. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange yellow colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, passion fruit, pineapple, peach, mango, grapefruit, lime, citrus rind and pith.
Taste: Juicy, melon, pineapple, papaya, peach, lightly bitter, grapefruit, lime, orange, with notes of grass.
Mouthfeel: Slightly creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A nice and easy drinking NEDIPA, although the melon flavours were perhaps a little strong for me.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, IPA - Sour, Pomona Island Brew Co.

Pomona Island Spottie Ottie Dopaliscious

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Brewery: Pomona Island Brew Co.
Country: England
ABV: 8%
Style: Sour IPA
Other Notes: Blackcurrant and blueberry sour DIPA with oolong tea

Brewer Description: (from can) Let’s party till we can’t no more. Blackcurrant and Blueberry Sour Double IPA damn, damn, damn, as the plot thickens it gives me the dickens… with Oolong Tea and Simcoe.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 440ml can, canned on 21st October 2020, with a best before date of 21st July 2021. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very nice beetroot purple reddish colour with a just over one finger purple pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly, and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, fruity, juicy, blackcurrant and blueberries.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, mixed berries creamsicle, blackcurrant, blueberry, blackberry, jammy.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Very enjoyable with lots of blackcurrant and blueberry flavours. Not sure I get much oolong tea or DIPA elements, but the fruit is front and center that it probably covers it.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, IPA - New England / Hazy, Verdant Brewing Co.

Verdant Neal Gets Things Done

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Brewery: Verdant Brewing Co.
Country: England
ABV: 6.5%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin

Brewer Description: (from Verdant webshop) Off the canning line, into the fridges, and drinking like a dream, Neal’s back getting things done. Sit back, relax and enjoy this flavour-packed ride of Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic & Nelson Sauvin – a magic trip awaits.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 440ml can, canned on 30th September 2020, with a best before date of 30th March 2021. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy straw blond colour with a nice two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Grass, dank, melon, tropical, mango, pineapple, citrus, mandarin, orange rind.
Taste: Light to moderate sweetness, fruity, mango, melon, pineapple, moderately bitter, orange, citrus rind and pith.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice and juicy with a good balance between sweet and bitter.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Burley Oak Brewing Company, IPA - New England / Hazy, USA

Burley Oak Citralaxy

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Brewery: Burley Oak Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Citra and Galaxy

Brewer Description: (from can) India Pale Ale with that lupulin powder.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 23rd September 2020. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical and citrus fruits, mango, orange and grapefruit, dank, grassy, with citrus rind and zesty notes.
Taste: Dank, grassy, juicy, mango, orange, with citrus pith and rind bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice and enjoyable. Good aroma and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Cascade Brewing, USA, Wild Ale

Cascade Sang Noir

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Brewery: Cascade Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 9.9%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Northwest sour ale. Ale aged in bourbon and wine barrels with cherries. 2015 project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) House of Sour. Sang Noir is a blend of select red ales aged in bourbon and wine barrels with Bing cherries for up to two years.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2015 project. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy dark maroon colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, mixed berries, acetone, oak, wood, with slight balsamic notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, caramel, oak, wood, mixed berries, grape-y vinous, with very light notes of bourbon.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Not getting much bourbon, but there was an enjoyable complexity about this beer with a good blend of fruit and wood. At 9.9% abv, the alcohol was well hidden. This was definitely one of the better Cascade beers I’ve tried.