I genuinely thought that Bearded Iris might've stopped shipping beer entirely. For all I knew, they may have gone under. It turns out, they have not. For some reason, I'm just not seeing their beer on the shelves. I was able to find this one already chilled in a cooler rather than on the normal shelf, and I will take what I can get. This beer is brewed with honey, and that's why they decided to call it Queen Bee. I am partial to a good honey wine (at least compared to regular wine) so I wonder if this honey will help it out.
First sip is sweet and citrus with a honey glaze, but the most notable thing is the unique DIPA surge and sting that I genuinely don't know if it comes from the malt or the yeast. It seems like the honey is doing something to reduce this intrusive idiosyncrasy of DIPAs, and the beer seems to be more drinkable as a result. Mind you this is just from a sip. We know how little a sip tells us.
Tip-in is mild carbonation tingle with sweet honey, light flowers, and a touch of citrus. Carbonation turns it up a notch as we flow into the middle with the honey still commanding, but flowers and some pine join the chorus of hops that are all singing together. The finish is dry with pine and, yes, more honey trying to ease the pine bitterness heading into the trail off.
Bottom Line: I need to drink more Bearded Iris.
3.75/5
