3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
A very nice beer. Pours a cloudy orange-ish color with a fluffy off-white head. Aroma is decidedly hoppy, and citrus sweet. I have brewed several batches with Simcoe, but didn’t associate my results with the sweaty-sweet hop good-flavors of this beer...no matter, it tastes good, so I’ll drink it.
A very drinkable 10% ABV beer.
Got this beer from their "Alpha" 12-pack, graciously delivered from MD by my Dad.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle that pours a slightly hazy golden/orange color with an average-sized white head.
Aroma is huge skunky piney hop aromas. I’m even sensing some floral and even fruity notes. Weird, considering this is a single hop and should have a defining characteristic.
Taste is the same. Piney and resiny hops. Great bitterness that Simcoe is known for. and even some slight tropical/citrusy flavors creep in the finish. This beer doesn’t hide the 10% as much as the El Dorado did but it might because of this being a little less complex with no malt backing, pretty much ALL hops. It’s a good flavorful brew. Not overly sweet, Nice medium body, smooth, soft and has a long bitter finish.
3.6 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
On tap at Churchkey. Served in a snifter.
The pour is a nice copper color with a 1.5-finger white head and a pretty good dose of lacing. The nose is really nice, starting out with some citrus and pine hops. Later, as it warms, I get quite a few tropical notes which is a bit unexpected from a single-hop beer with Simcoe. Nonetheless, I get a fair amount of peach, reminding me of the Jolly Ranchers of that variety.
The taste is a bit more mild with some citrus and tropical notes as well as a slight malt backing. It’s a bit hot with alcohol coming in here whereas it hadn’t in the nose. Body is pretty dry and nicely bitter. Medium body. Really nice and interesting. I’d love to have more from what I hope will become a series.
Serving type: on-tap
Reviewed on: 11-18-2010
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Draft. Large off-white head, lightly hazed amber body. Aroma is moderately sweet, grapefruit/orange, catty, some pineapple. Taste is moderately sweet, grapefruit, catty, some pine. Soft medium-full body, resin, light acidity.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 17/20
Draft (into pint) @ Alonsos, Baltimore.Pours thick golden w/ white head. Aroma: beautiful simcoe hops; flavor is the same. Beer is sweeter than the Wyerbacher, probably due to the slightly higher ABV. I love this style beer, and for $6 a pint, I can’t complain.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
On tap at Capital Ale House - Downtown on 11/06/2010. Slightly hazy orange body with a medium creamy white head. Sweet citrus and catty aroma. Big simcoe, citrus and resiny hop flavor. Medium full body with moderately high carbonation.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
On cask at Wildeman. Dark brown body with fuzzy head. Nose quite hoppy. Nice crisp taste of plenty of hops and citrus. Quite a formidable, solid beer. Some cheese notes in the finish. A real ale, quite enjoyable.
Earlier Rating: 11/27/2010 Total Score: 4
On tap at Beer Temple, one of only two kegs in Europe. Nice amber body with huge head. Nose of fruits, wood and lots of caramel. Really sweet and malty flavour. Nice syrupy texture. Really good.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Cask (!) @ In De Wildeman. Amber colored, no head, an not much carbonation, as was to be expected. Strong fruity/citrussy, floral & piney hop aroma with alcoholic sweetness and some bitterness. Flavor is malty sweet & bitter. Medium bodied. Good bitter finish. Hops come out better in cask conditioned beers and this was no exception. Loved it.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Draft. Pours golden with a white head. Aroma is strong simcoe hops with pine/grapefruit. Flavor is, you guessed it, simcoe hops. Mouthfeel is dry with very little sugar and lots of hop flavor. Being fresh this beer tasted good but I imagine after a few weeks this would be all dry hops.
3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
Tap at Paradiso Old Town. Poured a slightly hazy orange with a weak, white head. Pretty good sheety lace remains. Aroma is salty, briny, fresh orange. There is no way you good pick out "Simcoe" notes from this beer- no mango peel, no weed. Taste is massively bitter, lots of piny hops, Brasil nut. But the body is very light with heavy, prickly carbonation. Being near fully attenuated, there is no malt backing left. This has really been robbed of a lot after going through Flying Dog’s giant filtration system. As it warms, some light booziness comes through making the beer taste simply like vodka with grapefruit juice mixer. If an English brewery brewed a DIPA, I would expect it to taste
like this. Here’s a little tip for DIPA, if you attenuate to 10%, you will have almost zero sugar and body left to balance what has been hopped to death over 100 IBUs. In a way, it is pointless to ever brew DIPA unless you are a genius that can get around this quid pro quo situation.
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