Category Archives: Beer Reviews

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, FrauGruber Brewing, Germany, IPA - New England / Hazy Triple

FrauGruber Super Sonic

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Brewery: FrauGruber Brewing
Country: Germany
ABV: 9.8%
Style: New England / Hazy Triple IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Select, Galaxy, Citra BBC and BRU-1

Brewer Description: (from can) Double dry hopped Triple India Pale Ale.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.91
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 440ml can, with a fresh before date of 1st June 2022. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a one finger off white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tropical, sweaty, mango, papaya, pineapple, with notes of citrus orange zest and maybe pine.
Taste: Light to moderate sweet beginning, tropical, papaya, mango, pineapple, light bitterness, orange, citrus rind and zest, light onion notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The flavour profile was not my favourite, but it was still quite good, just not ‘wow’. There was a good balance of sweet and bitter, and despite nearly 10% abv, any alcohol was well hidden.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, USA

Equilibrium dHop 2

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) dHop2 is a DIPA that investigates the interplay between our ale strain and an intensive Mosaic and Citra forward hop bill woven four times into its creative process. It pours a very murky tangerine color, releasing notes of orange juice (with pulp) and earthy grass. The taste is highly resinous, dank-citrus, pine juice, with a chewy mouth feel and a firm and pointed bitterness.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 7th April 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange juice, citrus rind, melon, mango, with notes of grass.
Taste: Juicy, sweet and bitter. Sweet, tropical, mango and pineapple to start, followed by citrus, mandarin, citrus rind, and resinous, dank, piney notes, with a lasting bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: An excellent NEDIPA that’s just delicious and goes down so easy. It has a good sweet and bitter balance with the type of juicy combo that I enjoy.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy, USA

Equilibrium Fractal Eclipse

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.8%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) A fractal is something simple at the core yet can produce wonderful and amazingly complex results. Fractal Eclipse only has pale malt and a brand-new Australian hop called Eclipse (Previously called HPA-016). Investigating how different hops manifest through our processes allows us to optimize both our use of hops and our hopping techniques. Fractal Eclipse pours a resinous-hazy-yellow releasing dramatic aromas of Five Alive fruit drink, Sat AM cartoons, mimosas, pineapple, and spring grass. Its flavors are citrus cocktails and Australian grass blades all with a melon twist. Delicate, juicy, and balanced this is the perfect beverage to watch the sun fade into party light.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.7
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 14th April 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A nice hazy orange colour with an almost two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Melon, strawberry, pineapple, grapefruit peel, orange rind, leafy, grass.
Taste: Citrus zest, unripe mangoes, melon, pineapple, grapefruit, orange, grass, lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: There was a lot of fruit flavours here, but it just didn’t seem to come together as well as it sounded. Not sure if it was the hop, since it was my first time trying Eclipse, but Equilibrium have a lot more beers that I prefer.

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

Equilibrium x Homes Lab Flasks

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery x Homes Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) Following up from our last collab Lab Tubes, we are back at it with our friends from Homes to create a brand new beer using our Incognito process.

Lab Flasks uses flaked wheat, white wheat, flaked oats, and oat malt to lay the base for a large Citra Incognito, Citra, and Strata whirlpool before we dry-hopped this beer with Citra LUPOMAX, Citra, Strata, and Michigan Copper.

Pouring bright milky yellow, hop saturated aromas of orange creamsicles and pineapple dominant before flavors of assorted citrus, Hawaiian Punch, honeydew melon, cannabis, lime nerds candy, dank earthiness, and a pop of rainbow melon.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 5th April 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A nice bright hazy orange colour, with a just over one finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Juicy, dank, pineapple, mango, orange juice, orange zest.
Taste: Light to moderate sweetness, tropical and citrus juicy, mango, pineapple, melon, orange rind, candied citrus, with light dank and bitter notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Balanced sweet and bitter flavours with lots of juicy and dank notes. Easy to drink and very enjoyable.

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

Equilibrium Double Fractal Penrose Tile

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) Using our Fractal fermentation process, we combined a simple 2-row base malt bill and a whirlpool of Mosaic and Idaho 7 before a dry hop of HBC586 (“mango hop”), Mosaic, and Strata. Pouring a bright mango yellow, aromas of mango smoothie, cannabis, and hop fields lead you to flavors of clementine marmalade, passionfruit, pineapple and mango smoothie, red currants, and weed all wrapped up in a chewy mouthfeel. This tropical medley has a saturated flavor with a balanced dank and earthy #EQJuice finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 30th March 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy mango orange colour with a just over one finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrus fruit with light tropical notes. Grapefruit, orange zest, dank, melon, and light mango notes.
Taste: Light sweetness and bitter notes, mango, melon, grapefruit, citrus zest, dank, grassy, weedy, light but lasting bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good balance between sweet and bitter with nice tropical, citrus and dank earthy notes.