Helltown "Buffy" IPA

I had this beer at the brewery, but all the beers I had there are kind of a blur. The reason I started this blog was so I can keep track of beers because my memory is not particularly good, and the combination of alcohol and many different names that I was unfamiliar with have resulted in me not having a clue as to what beers I liked before and what beers I should expect to like. As a result, I'm coming into this fresh. Is Buffy one of the good ones? Let's see if she can slay my thirst.

The pale yellow beer earns the right to be referred to as "hazy," even if the word is tired and overused as far as I'm concerned. The beer produces a nice head, but it's not a particularly sticky head, and the very small bubbles leave only a modicum of lacing as they go down. The aroma is citrus fruit rind over tropical fruit meat with a vague cracker malt lingering underneath. The presentation isn't that bad. In fact, I'm looking forward to this.

First sip is relatively smooth for something that smelled like it had so many hops in it. Grain is coming in to temper the bitterness of the grapefruits, orange, and tangerine. There is still a tangible bitterness that comes toward the end, but the grain appears to be doing a very good job of preventing it from becoming a bite and allowing it to become more of a sensation.

Tip-in is moderate carbonation burn with sweet fruits jetting to the top of the mouth and grains gallivanting underneath to form a consistent and relatively smooth base. The middle is just as smooth as the sip made it out to be; the grains falling in line to help shovel the fruits right down the gullet in an impressive and orderly manner. The finish is a cold snap that seems to dull all of the other flavors before bitterness winds its way in, but it again does not overwhelm as sweetness from the malt keeps it in check for grains and grapefruit in the trail off.

Bottom Line: That's a pretty damn good beer.

4.0/5