Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Draught at the brewery on 2/13/14
Much better pour than the previous (cascadenation). This one, while still lightly hazy, is not cloudy and has a thick, off-white head that is very well-retained, with plentiful carbonation coursing up through the deep golden body.
Very lush, tropical, fresh, hoppy nose suggests lychee, pink grapefruit, overripe mango and almost a mint or wintergreen suggestion that is a nice additional touch. Malt shows just a touch of honey to balance and the yeast produces clean esters that are mostly lost in the hop flurry. Even through the head, the hops are deep and luscious and very aromatic.
Wow, this is some hoppy stuff on all levels. Hop flavor and bitterness to the max. Nearly stings the palate on the finish, with pine-like resin and dry pineapple notes mixing with a touch of earthiness and sweet cream-like maltiness, but easily outdoing the malt and lingering (and building up, rather fatiguingly) on the finish. The mouthfeel is phenomenal; soft, creamy, lightly oily from the acids and the carbonation is tight and engaging. The malts are well-attenuated, so in that sense, it’s drinkable, but it’s just fiercely acidic and the alcohol comes in to play as well on the finish, burning the palate. Difficult to drink for me. Probably something to sip on unless you’re an extreme hophead, which this certainly seems catered to.