The beer cascades like nothing I've ever seen before, and the head it leaves is patchy and sticky, and it sits atop an orange-ish copper beverage. The aroma is more floral than I expected, but it has fruits that are thick as thieves once you get past the flowers and gentle pine. It presents very well.First sip is a bit aggressive. It is fruits and joy at the front end, but then it hits with musty pine, flowers, and yeast right at the back of the throat. The effect is not great, but I blame that on the sheer volume of hops that are trying to assert themselves. It kind of reminds me of the disharmonious way the hops struggled in the Latitude 48 IPA from Sam Adams. Maybe a full swig will sort this out.
Tip-in is sweet and tropical with apricot and other sweet fruits enjoying themselves in a very gentle hot tub of carbonation. As the middle comes on, the sweetness turns to humble bitterness while the fruits continue to dominate and are followed by underpowered flowers and pine; toasted bread is enjoying a background role, but it is filling the holes in the taste very well. The finish is a wave of bitterness trailing off into slightly more bitterness.
Bottom Line: A beer that could be better than it's best, but still certainly very enjoyable.
3.5/5
