On draught at Egajdzis’ house on 10/5/06.
A slight glassiness shows the unfiltered, but well-conditioned nature of the beer. A rosy peach-tangerine body displays a small, but fairly dense, and well-retained white head that laces quite prominently.
Very fragrant simcoe hops in the nose show tons of dry-hopping and late-boil additions. It dosent strike me as an overdone, bittered-to-all-hell version and light bits of fluffy, rather succulent honeyish malts can be daintily picked out as well. As it warms and I continue to take it in, the lush simcoes deepen in complexity, lasting on the finish and producing a very green, watermelon and candied orange note that belies the usual hard pine resin and heavily dry grapefruit. There certainly is some light resin, but it is balanced easily by the light sugars and lively fruitiness. Despite having about 5 glasses of this stuff, and kicking Eric’s keg, the aroma never seemed to fail, nor did it get boring, which is strange, as there isn’t all that much going on. Just goes to show, when hops are done right, the wonderful simplicity can make a huge difference.
No surprises in the flavor, then, when I find a wonderfully drinkable, highly flavorful, yet tastefully done IPA. Some moderately bitter pine needle-like notes perk up at first, but are quickly washed away by melons, tangerines and a finish reminding me of ruby red grapefruit; no doubt the interplay of the light, but noticeable malt, and the tangy citrus notes from the hops. Excellent texture is provided by a comforting, soft malt body and low, but rather tight carbonation (especially for a draught sample). Nearly creamy, though not as heavy as to be creamy, but certainly frothy and invigorating on the palate, with an immense drinkability. Alcohol is never noted, nor any diacetyl. Hop acids never become a problem, even after the end of 4 or 5 glasses. I could have (and would have) kept drinking it.
Not the most complex example, but I don’t think it attempts to be, nor does it seem that it needed to be. Not the sheer tour de force of complexity and powerful flavor that is Mikkeller Simcoe IPA, but wonderful in its own right, and worlds apart from some of the other also-rans in the simcoe IPA category (Weyer dbl Simcoe, stone 10th). Thanks Eric!

Cask at Spuyten Duyvil - frothy and semi-cloudy out of the hand pump - very full, earthy hop aroma, like a handful of hops just plucked off the plants - very dry, and, again, earthy hop flavor - herbal/spicy qualities mix with a biscuity crispness - quite nice.