Sample @ GABF 2017. Pours a hazy yellow color with a small white head. Has a fruity malty creamy grainy weak hoppy aroma. Fruity malty creamy grainy flavor. Has a fruity malty creamy grainy finish.

Taster pour at Craft Brew Race New Haven. Appearance is dark yellow/light brown, no sparkle, small ring of head, mild lacing. Aroma is subtle; mild pine and resin. Taste is fruit, and bitter grapefruit. The last 2/3 is bitter dominant. Palate is medium bodied with thick texture, soft carbonation and a bitter, dry finish. Overall, the aroma and flavor are overshadowed by dominant bitter.

Draft at the brewery taproom. Pours mostly clear gold with a creamy, white head. The nose has nice dank hops, juicy citrus, pine, tangerine. Medium sweet flavour with continuing good juicy hop character, some piney bitterness, pale bread. Medium bodied with fine to average carbonation. Lightly resinous on the finish, with more pine, some grass, tangerine, orange, light alcohol warmth. Solid IPA.

Draft at the brewery taproom. Pours clear, dark brown with a creamy, tan head. The nose holds light roast, burnt bread, some earth. Medium sweet flavour with hints of burnt plastic, charred wood, mellow cocoa. Light bodied with fine carbonation. Drying finish, with further cocoa, slight roast. So so on the whole.

Draft at the brewery bar. Pours clear amber-gold with a foamy, white head. The nose holds bread, light toffee, butterscotch. Medium sweet flavour with more bread, toffee, light butter, some leaves. Light bodied with fine to average carbonation. Sweet finish with some toasted sugars. Fine stuff.

Taster pour at Craft Beer Race New Haven. Appearance is hazy light brown with thick, finger-width white creamy foamy head with nice lacing. Aroma is light cracker malt. Taste is cracker/biscuit malt, stronger than aroma, with bitter balance. Palate medium bodied with average texture, soft carbonation and finish like taste. Overall, a pretty standard amber ale without all of the claimed fruit.

Growler filled and drunk 12/12/15.
Deep golden liquid has a slight haze to it and a large white head with moderate retention.
Big ruby red grapefruit, orange rind and sweet pine certainly outdo the lesser tropical fruit notes, but the malt provides a good backing, keeping it from getting too resinous or sharp in the nose. Lightly dank aromatics increase with warming, adding moss, pepper and lime skin to the mix. No alcohol or flaws noted.
The very first impression is of mango, papaya, nectarine and light peach. It’s delightfully bright and flavorful but slowly gives way to stronger notes of citrus. Bitterness creeps in pretty quickly and there are some sweet malt notes as well. A bit dull/bitter and uniformly citric on the finish, though some of the juicy, tropical character remains. A very well-done IPA and maybe 5 or so years ago it would have been more impressive, but as is, it’s just vastly outclassed by the tier of Tree House/HF/Trillium and such.

Draught at the brewery, 12/12/15.
Golden-bronze body is mostly clear with a small, moderately-well-retained head atop.
Strong earthiness, like dried leaves and dried herbs are well-integrated with lightly fruity apricot and a touch of pine that seems a bit out-of-place. Malts are bready and show honey and modetate buttercream, with no alcohol or flaws.
Flavor is moderately sweet, though again, like with the Caboose, it’s more heavy body/texture than actual sugar. Buttercream is a bit unsettling. Dont think it’s diacetyl, just interplay of malt, earthy-apricoty hops. There’s some firm bitterness and snappy dryness from the hops on the end, which helps mitigate the sluggish nature of the beer, but not quite enough, in my opinion.

Draught at the brewery, 12/12/15.
Dark, indeterminable clarity, ebony body is topped by a tan head showing moderate retention.
Very roasty in the nose, with some dank and citrusy hops folded in nicely. No harsh pine/resin and no alcohol fumes. Just lots of bitter cocoa, dank spruce and grapefruit. No flaws or alcohol.
Reasonably strong texture supports lightly sweet malts that balance the roast and hop bitterness pretty easily. Assertive bitterness, but it’s nothing outlandish and just seems like a hoppy, nicely roasted porter. Vanilla and baker’s chocolate dry out the finish, with a deep malt structure that allows room for the flavors to coalesce. Ample, but not overdone carbonation and no flaw or alcohol.

Nitro dispensed pint at the brewery, 12/12/15.
Large beige head is well-retained, as expected, topping a dark ebony with deep mahogany/auburn highlights. Indeterminable clarity.
Nose smells strongly of prunes, burnt toffee and salted caramel. Big vanilla and buttercream sorta thing going on as well. Bitter roast sits lightly in the background. No alcohol noted.
Bittersweet chocolate, tons of buttercream and light vanilla are prominent in the mouth. Some oily, bitter roast keeps things dry, though there is light caramel/chocolate sweetness to gently balance. Very, very watery and thinned out texture, even taking in to consideration being served on nitro. As well, there’s a strong buttery element here, with heavy bittersweet character.