cloudy – Let's Learn Beer!

howl

por Ceit
diciembre 21, 2022diciembre 21, 2022

I look askance at Rauxa at first; I just had a stunning imperial stout and now I just get a regular IPA? OK, it’s Guineu and it’s been specially picked, but not even imperial, DDH, some other sparkly attraction? The label, while subdued, gives a hint of wildness and some secret that it will be worth your while to find out.

Slightly cloudy, but sunny color, and a stunning puffy head. Another whipped cream topping, almost like a float. It’s not very aromatic, but the taste comes out like a jack-in-the-box, surprising in its sharp bitterness and power of lasting flavor. There’s a tingle of mandarin, but it’s almost a doubly bitter IPA compared to a lot of modern American style examples. A little something starts to develop over time that seems like window cleaner to me. It might be a nod to the pine essence of certain hops. The beer has an oddly smooth feel, but with a scratchy coating, kind of like a crumbly hard candy filled with liquidy gel. And all of it a big bad IPA wolf. No, wait, it’s a fox. Big bad IPA fox.

how could you!

por Ceit
diciembre 2, 2022diciembre 2, 2022

I got my beer calendar, weeks before I even expected it, and excitedly ripped into day 1…only to see sin alcohol on the can. Alcohol free? In a craft beer calendar? Is the universe trying to tell me something? At least it is an interesting craft style, a hazy IPA, and from a reliable brewery. Actually, Boira is a collaboration between trusty Guineu and Althaia. If they made the effort to bring the beer out, I guess I can make an effort to drink it.

Very cloudy and a very pale color greet me, not a bad aroma at all with a little bread and a little ginger (but not quite gingerbread), and a wrapping of grapefruit. The head forms with relatively large bubbles and vanishes within seconds. Now it really looks like a fizzy lemonade, one you would expect to be “organic”. Flavorwise, it’s the grapefruit that comes out on top. The bitterness is heavy although the beer itself feels almost effervescent, and it doesn’t have the sharpness that some hazies or NEIPAs end up with. It’s not a bad imitation of its alcoholic counterpart, maintaining a feeling of bitter beer juice and citrus snap that is the attraction of the style. It has less juice than many “real” NEIPAs, but there are quite a few that it lines right up with.