Yazoo Brandon’s Hop Blaster!

Formerly brewed at Yazoo Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Nashville, Tennessee USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

Dark brown-orange, off white cover. Aroma is citrus hops, a burnt caramel. Taste is a bit thin, toast, burnt sugar, caramel, aromatic hop finish, citrusy.

Draft at the brewery. Pours a somewhat cloudy dark brown with a half-inch tan head. Hoppy aroma and flavor along with citrus, caramel, and roasted malts. Sweet, bitter, citrusy, and well-balanced. I liked this one a lot but apparently wasn’t as blown away by it as other raters thus far. Glad to support a good cause, Mark Moynihan’s family.

Source:Tap at the tasting room.
Glass:16 ounce.
Appearance:Dark brown with a one finger tan head.
Aroma:Contained roasty notes, caramel and citrus.
Flavor:Sweet and roasted malts with a bitter grapefruit rind finish.
Palate:Medium body with solid carbonation.
Overall:I thought this was rather good. A black IPA for sure.

Nice break from the traditional hoppy bitter beers. The tongue isn’t raped by alpha acids, rendering it less sensitive to the actual taste and flavors of the hops. As with the hop flavor, the aroma also seems to come through completely from start to finish. Definitely has me interested in trying more beers that are all late hopped. As with all great hoppy beers it also has the malt backbone to create a balance. Will definitely go back to Yazoo for more. Will be more prepared next time by bringing as many growlers as I can carry so that the experience can continue at home.

A heavenly combo of hoppy citrus aroma with detectable Amarillo, subtle chocolate notes in the malt, deep amber-mahogany color, and a bold finish with nothing but clean hoppiness that does not linger nor insult the tongue. A true American West Coast IPA available in the heart of the South.

After living in California for a few years this is the first locally brewed beer I can say reminds me of the microbrewed mecca I left when I moved to TN. The beer was tried on tap at Yazoo Saturday 9/5/09 in a taster glass along with other Yazoo selections. The hop blaster was by far the beer with the most character and flavor. I actually expected to see yet another out of balance yellow IPA but was surprised to see the a nice brown/mahogany color and off white head. Aroma was wow! Nice malt sweet smell, but the hops. Oh boy the hops. Citrus and slightly woody on the smell and the taste another winner. The aroma was every but as good as the taste. I have never eaten a hop, but this had so much hop flavor and hop smoothness I can only hope that is what it would be like. It finished nice a dry but with enough malt and hop on my palate I had to get more. That small sample glass. It turned into me buying 2 more pints. Looks like this one is a brewmasters special which is a shame. I’ll be back next week with a growler. Yazoo: dont make this a one hit wonder, you guys are on to something here.