New Glarus Hop Hearty Ale

Bottle thanks to Iowaherkeye: Pours a copper color with an off white head. Aroma, citrus and earthy hops, with a caramel background. Flavor, caramel up front, some breadyness, a bit of citrus, an earthy bitterness, but it almost finishes sweet. Pretty solid stuff.

Bottle tasted at a tasting on April 1st and again at the WBF on April 28th. Not incredibly hoppy, but what is there is juicy and sweet. Nice malt balance. Another winner from new glarus.

Not as hoppy as FFF Alpha King. New Glarus is a little more conservative with their styles. An above average hoppy beer-- but not extreme hops. A touch better than Goose Island IPA but not quite as flavorful as Bell’s Two Hearted Ale.

This beer is the best New Glarus beer I’ve yet had, and is a very nice IPA. This beer pours a slightly hazy copper color with good head formation, which sticks around quite well. Aroma is that of sweet hops, and is mild yet quite good. Flavor is quite smooth, yet a pleasing sweet citrus-y hopiness (like pineapple). Mouthfeel is not watery, but is a bit flat, but still pleasant.

(Bottle) Pours an amber color with a large white head and good lacing. Sweet aroma with a small amount of citrus and raspberry. I actually got some raspberry in the taste as well. The moderate amount of hop flavor is well balanced by some caramel and spice. A good all around brew, but not as hoppy as I expected for their IPA.

Bottle provided by Lumpy - thanks! Clear orange tinted amber with a creamy looking off white head. Nose is a bit sweet, caramel like and syrupy. A small amount of piney hops can be detected. Mouthfeel is a bit sticky. Flavor starts with piney hops and finishes with a pretty good amount of hop bitterness.

4/09/2007: New Glarus Hop Hearty I.P.A. is a darkish honey orange color and is slightly hazy. The initial head is the color of parchment and is dense foamy with a pebble-like texture. The visible carbonation is mild to moderate. At first the aroma is sweet caramel and brown sugar with a touch of citrus hops. At warmer temperatures some very subtle pine is detectable. The flavor has a nice underlying caramel malt base with some moderate grapefruit hop bitterness on top. Some alcohol is noticeable at warmer temperatures as well. The mouthfeel is medium to medium-full in weight and pretty smooth with a slight creaminess to it. Overall this is a very easy to drink IPA. It really reminds me more of a Pale Ale than an IPA since the hop and bitterness levels seemed a bit low to me, but it’s pretty darn good either way! Thumbs up to another nice beer from New Glarus!

12 fl. oz. bottle purchased on 11/11/2006 at the New Glarus Brewery in New Glarus, Wisconsin. Rating: 7 3 7 4 15 = 3.6.


Update on 10/26/2008: I’ve forgotten how good this beer really is. It has such a vibrant hop aroma and flavor of citrus and floral and earthy hops. It also has a really nice appearance with a decent head and good lacing. I like the resiny mouthfeel too. However, I would still like some more bitterness overall, but this is a great session IPA nonetheless!

12 fl. oz. bottle brought to my by my good friend Jason. Thanks man! Rating: 7 4 8 3 16 = 3.8.

From a 12oz Bottle. Dark, slightly opaque pour of crimson tinged amber with a thick layer of frothy off-white head. Pleasant hop aroma thats very fresh and spicy at the same time. The Goldings give it a great herbal character with that hint of spice, while the Cascade give it a bit of fresh citrus dimension. Good combo of the old and new world hops mentioned in the description; they really work well together in the aroma. The cascade actually smells like the soggy spent whole hops left behind in the brew kettle after a day of brewing, which I find strangely satisfying. Perhaps its the psychology of smelling this and then desperately wanting a beer after a day of brewing work? Some chewy caramel malts and light whipped chocolate nougat create a rich and pleasant base. Medium bodied, softly, yet fully carbonated mouthfeel. This is a very nice beer, but not really one that I would pick to describe this style. The malt character really defines the palate, with plenty of EKG and thick malty characters of chewy caramel and toasted biscuit. Lots of darkly toasted malt characters and a soft texture, with the hop characters serving as a balancing and spicy supplement rather than being there for simply bitterness. Almost reminds me of a well-hopped altbier. A touch of graham cracker and caramelized jaggery sugar lingers in the final smack. Thanks, Tom!