So I've been living in the land of home brew lately, my first batch was in the lager style and I've been missing my hops so for the Holiday weekend I shouted myself a hoppy import.
When you think of Californian beers hops spring to mind, and Green Flash doesnt disappoint Before I even pour I like to deeply inhale from the bottle and I got a noseful of resinous tropical hops. Yum. It poured beautifully forming a fine bubbled creamy head with astonishing staying power. Its hazy a orange/gold, not crystal clear that for sure, but with all those hops, how could it be. Not overly carbonated, after the initial pour we get a few rising bubbles. Spectacular lacing and resistant head make it an aesthetically pleasing beer to drink.
It describes itself as "Extravagantly hopped", and maybe I would say decadently hopped. The resinous hops coat your tongue and biscuity malt wafts around the roof of your mouth, though its quickly replaced with almost piney and slightly grapefruit hop afternotes. A beautiful bitter finish that makes this beer so drinkable.
A few more mouthfuls reveal a spicy peppery note amid the floral aromas. Grapefruit bitterness still dominates but a lemon zest is trying to squeak through. After a while the malt struggles a little to compete with the oily hop flavours but the beer has such an excellent hop finish we can easily forgive this.
The high alcohol content (7.3%) makes this a one bottle tasting/appreciation per evening. A full pint is a generous bottling size much appreciated and easy enjoyed over a couple of pours. The richness of flavour makes it easy to stretch out the enjoyment with slow considered mouthfuls. So while its about $12 here in NZ its certainly worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment