Hidee-ho, beer campers. Yeah, long time no see, right?
As some of you may have noticed, summer is here. And that means swimming pools, popsicles, vacations and campouts to keep cool. And cold beer. The colder the better, especially here in Arizona. I have here a couple of beers with a strong citrus ingredient in their brewing, to make them more refreshing in these scorching months. Today, we have the Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA from Utah's Uinta Brewing Company, a citrus variant of their mainstay IPA.
Named for the Uinta mountains, this Utah-based brewery began brewing pale ales, porters and hefeweizens out of a former mechanics garage in 1993. They've expanded since then to add brown ales, barleywines and IPAs, selling 77,000 barrels as recently as 2014 with distribution to 32 states and the District of Columbia. Uinta stresses their green attitude, being the first Utah company to be 100% wind powered, adding solar power to their operations in 2011, and promoting on their website that "GREAT beer is brewed with environmental stewardship, support for community and a whole lot of passion."
But how's the beer?
Fun fact, the bottle's label suggests that this be served in a tulip glass. Luckily, I happened to have such a glass! For wine, but that's not my usual choice of beverage. On first pour, the head is pillowy but thin, and fades out fast while the remnants cling lace-like to the glass. The body crosses from the typical IPA amber straight on to a semi-clear orange color. The bouquet is clearly, obviously infused with citrus notes, with the pungent hops and sugary malt notes hovering in the background. The citrus is, for me, an exciting change from the usual caramel sweetness you find with most IPAs.
The tangerine flavors stand out, especially on the sides of the tongue, and overpowers the malt sweetness. The hops' bite is reduced, but kicks in to give this IPA a dry, pine-y, bitter finish. Overall, the mouthfeel is somewhat dry from both the acidity of the citrus and the bitterness of the hops.
Long story short, I liked it! It's more broadly drinkable IPA because of the citrus balancing out the hops, and the tangerine essence is especially refreshing when served cold. With an ABV of 7.3% it's not a beer to take lightly either. I would recommend it, but in moderation. The same easy drinkability makes it really easy to miss that higher ABV till it's too late.
That's all for today, next time I'll cover another citrus-brewed craft beer. Till then, this is your humble beer blogger signing off.
