7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Draught at the brewery, 5/27/17.
Dark auburn-chestnut with light mahogany hues and a high clarity with a small, wispy, beige head.
The spice element, while notable, doesn’t seem to overpower, thankfully. It’s even fairly well-integrated with the melanoidins from the malt, while the alcohol adds a gentle perfume. Fruit-like acidity suggests cranberry, but it’s light and you’d not be able to pick it out blind. Biscuit, cracker, brown bread and dry toffee linger on the clean finish.
Soft and slick in the mouth with low but ample carbonation and an overall sweet, though not offensively-so, character. Toffee, honey, caramel are met by cranberry and orange zest-like acidity while the spice helps dry things out somewhat. Comes off much like a big winter warmer, though it’s neither boozy/messy or overly spicy. Definitely different and unique. Much better than I expected based on the description.
Dark auburn-chestnut with light mahogany hues and a high clarity with a small, wispy, beige head.
The spice element, while notable, doesn’t seem to overpower, thankfully. It’s even fairly well-integrated with the melanoidins from the malt, while the alcohol adds a gentle perfume. Fruit-like acidity suggests cranberry, but it’s light and you’d not be able to pick it out blind. Biscuit, cracker, brown bread and dry toffee linger on the clean finish.
Soft and slick in the mouth with low but ample carbonation and an overall sweet, though not offensively-so, character. Toffee, honey, caramel are met by cranberry and orange zest-like acidity while the spice helps dry things out somewhat. Comes off much like a big winter warmer, though it’s neither boozy/messy or overly spicy. Definitely different and unique. Much better than I expected based on the description.
Tried
on 14 Jul 2017
at 12:56
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draught at the brewery, 5/27/17.
Clear, dark amber with brighter auburn tints and a medium-sized, beige head showing moderate retention.
Strong melanoidins in the nose immediately and easily balance the malts. Caramel, toffee, biscuit vie against cherry, raspberry, cranberry-like acidity with minimal hop character, no flaw or alcohol. Great complexity to it.
Lovely balance in the mouth, as well, showing caramel-raisin-like sweetness up front that is balanced by fruity, lightly acidic melanoidins. Malty, soft and gently sweet, it is nonetheless very well-attenuated with ample carbonation. Great mix of fruitiness, acidity and a layered malt structure. Quite delicious.
Clear, dark amber with brighter auburn tints and a medium-sized, beige head showing moderate retention.
Strong melanoidins in the nose immediately and easily balance the malts. Caramel, toffee, biscuit vie against cherry, raspberry, cranberry-like acidity with minimal hop character, no flaw or alcohol. Great complexity to it.
Lovely balance in the mouth, as well, showing caramel-raisin-like sweetness up front that is balanced by fruity, lightly acidic melanoidins. Malty, soft and gently sweet, it is nonetheless very well-attenuated with ample carbonation. Great mix of fruitiness, acidity and a layered malt structure. Quite delicious.
Tried
on 14 Jul 2017
at 12:19
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draught at the brewery, 5/27/17.
Bronze-golden with darker copper hues, good clarity and a small, beige head atop showing modest retention.
Honey and light caramel kick things off as light vanilla and pepper-like hops enter the mix, as well. Seems more a long the lines of a Schlenkerla Helles as it’s not terribly intensely smoky. What’s there shows light campfire, bit of ash, light cured meat and mild phenolic pepper. It certainly complements the lighter malt character and smells clean and fragrant with no flaw.
Sweet and succulent malts are quickly joined by woodsmoke, vanilla and black pepper that help balance but leave the beer leaning more to the malty side, as it should be. Low but ample carbonation and fairly strong attenuation keep it drinkable while campfire and very light cured meat smokiness slowly build on the palate. Very soft, silky almost, texture. Clean and very drinkable.
Bronze-golden with darker copper hues, good clarity and a small, beige head atop showing modest retention.
Honey and light caramel kick things off as light vanilla and pepper-like hops enter the mix, as well. Seems more a long the lines of a Schlenkerla Helles as it’s not terribly intensely smoky. What’s there shows light campfire, bit of ash, light cured meat and mild phenolic pepper. It certainly complements the lighter malt character and smells clean and fragrant with no flaw.
Sweet and succulent malts are quickly joined by woodsmoke, vanilla and black pepper that help balance but leave the beer leaning more to the malty side, as it should be. Low but ample carbonation and fairly strong attenuation keep it drinkable while campfire and very light cured meat smokiness slowly build on the palate. Very soft, silky almost, texture. Clean and very drinkable.
Tried
on 14 Jul 2017
at 12:13
8.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Imported from my RateBeer account as Fort Hill Fresh Pick (by Fort Hill Brewery):
Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 17/20, MyTotalScore: 4.2/5
9/VII/17 - 12Fl. Oz. can from a trade, shared @ the Abeels - BB: n/a (2017-986) Thanks to Chris for the trade and Thomas for muling!
Very cloudy light orange beer, small creamy off-white head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: nice stuff, tropical fruit cocktail, mango, some pineapple, citrus. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: very fruity, grapefruit, citrus, gentle bitterness, bit malty, pineapple. Aftertaste: pretty bitter, citrus, some grapefruit, bit resinous, passion fruit, cactus juice (don't ask).
Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 17/20, MyTotalScore: 4.2/5
9/VII/17 - 12Fl. Oz. can from a trade, shared @ the Abeels - BB: n/a (2017-986) Thanks to Chris for the trade and Thomas for muling!
Very cloudy light orange beer, small creamy off-white head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: nice stuff, tropical fruit cocktail, mango, some pineapple, citrus. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: very fruity, grapefruit, citrus, gentle bitterness, bit malty, pineapple. Aftertaste: pretty bitter, citrus, some grapefruit, bit resinous, passion fruit, cactus juice (don't ask).
Tried
from Can
on 09 Jul 2017
at 17:16
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Draught at the brewery, 5/27/17.
Medium copper-auburn, clear with an off-white head atop that shows moderate retention.
Nose is a good mix of ripe, red berries, soft caramel and a touch of green hoppiness (fresh herbs, grass). It’s malt-forward, as it should be, but has just enough dry element to maintain a good balance, as well as showing no strong crystal malt character, nor flaw/alcohol.
Soft and malty in the mouth, the carbonation is moderate-to-low but mostly engaging. Great attenuation and a good mix of malty sweetness (caramel, toffee, honey) and acidity (red berry, very gentle melanoidin) make for a balanced, drinkable beer that both remains stylistically accurate (malt-forward, low, noble hop character) yet drinkable due to the dryness and acidity, as a lager of this type should have.
Medium copper-auburn, clear with an off-white head atop that shows moderate retention.
Nose is a good mix of ripe, red berries, soft caramel and a touch of green hoppiness (fresh herbs, grass). It’s malt-forward, as it should be, but has just enough dry element to maintain a good balance, as well as showing no strong crystal malt character, nor flaw/alcohol.
Soft and malty in the mouth, the carbonation is moderate-to-low but mostly engaging. Great attenuation and a good mix of malty sweetness (caramel, toffee, honey) and acidity (red berry, very gentle melanoidin) make for a balanced, drinkable beer that both remains stylistically accurate (malt-forward, low, noble hop character) yet drinkable due to the dryness and acidity, as a lager of this type should have.
Tried
on 07 Jul 2017
at 14:27
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draught at the brewery, 5/27/17.
Clear, light blonde, "piss" color, if you will ;) with a small, white head showing moderate retention.
Soft, gentle, herbal hop notes provide just a kiss of aroma as dainty honey and light cracker form the base here. Clean, with a bit of light pepper and bread on the finish with no alcohol or flaw.
Lightly sweet pils malt with a bit of dry, bready, crusty caramel malt provides an ample base to this light, watery, dry lager. Clean and with less hop character than the commercial description would suggest, it only seems to add shy bitterness and leafy, herbal notes to the otherwise malt-forward character of the beer. Low carbonation, loose somewhat, could stand to be tightened up and I don’t love the use of the caramel malt here, even if it primarily for color. It’s still robs the beer of badly needed malt depth that this style almost always lacks. Still, it’s clean and drinkable.
Clear, light blonde, "piss" color, if you will ;) with a small, white head showing moderate retention.
Soft, gentle, herbal hop notes provide just a kiss of aroma as dainty honey and light cracker form the base here. Clean, with a bit of light pepper and bread on the finish with no alcohol or flaw.
Lightly sweet pils malt with a bit of dry, bready, crusty caramel malt provides an ample base to this light, watery, dry lager. Clean and with less hop character than the commercial description would suggest, it only seems to add shy bitterness and leafy, herbal notes to the otherwise malt-forward character of the beer. Low carbonation, loose somewhat, could stand to be tightened up and I don’t love the use of the caramel malt here, even if it primarily for color. It’s still robs the beer of badly needed malt depth that this style almost always lacks. Still, it’s clean and drinkable.
Tried
on 07 Jul 2017
at 14:03
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours clear gold into a Sam glass. White head with medium retention recedes to hug rim. Sweet caramel and mango upfront turning to pith in the lasting finish.
Tried
on 03 Jul 2017
at 16:11
8.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Draught at the brewery, 5/27/17.
Clear, light-blonde body is well-carbonated, creating a small, but neatly-retained, white head atop.
Noble hops in the nose display a lush, fresh grass with fresh herbal accents, as well and a straw-and-hay-like malt character with just a touch of honey. Seems very nicely attenuated, based on the nose and it’s clean as a whistle. Touch of fresh sourdough and light pepper lingers on the finish.
Whew, I don’t know if I just caught this at the right time or what, but this stuff really blew me away. Wonderfully tight, spritzy carbonation helps disperse a lovely array of herbal, peppery, grassy hops with just enough bitterness to balance the honey-accented, lightly bready malt character. Soft, malty texture, yet with enough of a grainy touch to keep it crisp and pleasing on the finish. Dry, clean and not overdone on the hops, with no alcohol noted. I’d imagine on draught at the brewery is the best place to have this one, and it certainly shows here.
Clear, light-blonde body is well-carbonated, creating a small, but neatly-retained, white head atop.
Noble hops in the nose display a lush, fresh grass with fresh herbal accents, as well and a straw-and-hay-like malt character with just a touch of honey. Seems very nicely attenuated, based on the nose and it’s clean as a whistle. Touch of fresh sourdough and light pepper lingers on the finish.
Whew, I don’t know if I just caught this at the right time or what, but this stuff really blew me away. Wonderfully tight, spritzy carbonation helps disperse a lovely array of herbal, peppery, grassy hops with just enough bitterness to balance the honey-accented, lightly bready malt character. Soft, malty texture, yet with enough of a grainy touch to keep it crisp and pleasing on the finish. Dry, clean and not overdone on the hops, with no alcohol noted. I’d imagine on draught at the brewery is the best place to have this one, and it certainly shows here.
Tried
on 01 Jul 2017
at 11:57
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Undated can drunk 4/29/17.
Frothy white head tops a moderately hazy, copper-maize-golden body. Retention is moderate.
Strong tropical fruit notes show mostly pineapple while a dank, green, lightly resin-and-pine-tinged character adds a bit more intensity, culminating in some strong Tree House-like bubble gum ester and a bit of light alcohol. Caramel and honey-like malt notes easily balance.
Very soft, juicy, caramel-and-honey-laden texture shows light-to-moderate carbonation and moderate to strong attenuation. Maybe a bit more caramel flavor than I’d prefer, overall, with some spicy pine and just a touch of sharp heat on the end. Still, one can’t deny the well-expressed juiciness of the hops and low bitterness here, though I think it’s somewhat less masterfully done than in Jigsaw or Fresh Pick.
Frothy white head tops a moderately hazy, copper-maize-golden body. Retention is moderate.
Strong tropical fruit notes show mostly pineapple while a dank, green, lightly resin-and-pine-tinged character adds a bit more intensity, culminating in some strong Tree House-like bubble gum ester and a bit of light alcohol. Caramel and honey-like malt notes easily balance.
Very soft, juicy, caramel-and-honey-laden texture shows light-to-moderate carbonation and moderate to strong attenuation. Maybe a bit more caramel flavor than I’d prefer, overall, with some spicy pine and just a touch of sharp heat on the end. Still, one can’t deny the well-expressed juiciness of the hops and low bitterness here, though I think it’s somewhat less masterfully done than in Jigsaw or Fresh Pick.
Tried
from Can
on 30 May 2017
at 14:13
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Poured from can no date hazy golden minimal white head lots of floaties. Aromas of caramel malt fruit and resinous pine. Taste is lots of caramel floral notes tropical fruits lingering piney bitterness and hint of booze. A good start but needs refinement.
Tried
from Can
on 29 May 2017
at 18:54