New England IPA – The Tap Takeover

Beer Review #200!: Jersey Cyclone’s Eye of the Storm Category 3

Name: Eye of the Storm Category 3
Brewing Company: Jersey Cyclone Brewing Company
Location: Somerset, NJ
Style: IPA – Triple New England
ABV: 12% / 100 IBU

JerseyCyclone_EyeoftheStormCat3

from the untappd page for the beer:

As Jersey Cyclone Brewing’s intensity increases each year, a legendary storm surrounds our brew house allowing the eye to create the perfect conditions for this massive and epic IPA. Each sip is explosion of citrus and sweet fruit notes across your palate. Dry Hopped with Citra, Galaxy, Idaho 7 and Columbus.

As I was approaching Beer Review #200 here at the Tap Takeover, I wanted make it a special beer, like I did for Beer Review #100 (Saison Dupont). One of my favorite breweries just celebrated three years, so the confluence of events brings me to Eye of the Storm Category 3, a Triple New England IPA brewed by Jersey Cyclone to celebrate three years in business.

I was able to attend the celebration, despite the awful weather. Jan and his crew were planning on doing an outdoor party, but pouring rain forced festivities inside. Although I arrived early, the brewery filled up pretty quickly. With 16 taps in the main taproom, they were pouring variants, like their Hefeweizen, “Life in the Clouds” with Raspberry added. I stuck to some more of the main non-variant offerings like this new beer.

I’ve highlighted Jersey Cyclone fairly often here on the Triple T, in reviews, monthly six packs, as well as the brewery feature. I grab four packs frequently as regular rotation beers (Touchdown, the Munich Dunkel; Rewal, their Polish Pilsner; and Beach Blonde Helles Lager to name a few) So clearly, I enjoy their beer. It doesn’t hurt that they are literally around the block from where I work and not too far from home. I’m a big fan of their lagers because of their incredibly consistent flavors and quality, but their flagship beer is Eye of the Storm Citra, a classic American IPA. For the third anniversary, Jan and his crew added Galaxy, Idaho 7, and Columbus hops into the fold to complement the ever-popular Citra Hop.

The beer I’m given is super-hazy. It appears more orange in the picture, but that’s down to the lighting because it is more of a yellow-orange, not dissimilar to orange juice. The head looks like frothy orange juice, as if just shaken before poured into the glass.

Hops waft off the beer and into my nose, giving me a hint of things to come. The first sip is a blast of hops, but not palate-wrecking. I’ve had enough palate-wrecking IPAs in my life and this beer is incredibly smooth and balanced. The Citra stands out, but I get some additional tropical hints, possibly from the Galaxy. At least some elements of Eye of the Storm Category 3 resonates with the Galaxy Hopped beers I’ve had in the past. The Columbus hops are a classic hop that brings some piney elements, balancing out the tropical elements from the Citra and Galaxy.

The overall flavor is of juicy, tropical hops, and maybe a little peachiness? One of the most impressive characteristics of this beer is how well masked the high ABV of 12% is. Like the hop profile, the alcohol element isn’t overpowering and even barely noticeable. Like I said of Jersey Cyclone’s Black Forest Cake in last month’s six pack, I can definitely understand why this beer is not served in large/pint sized glasses (even though it is sold in pint cans!)

I also want to call out the new can label designs Jersey Cyclone has implemented with this beer and their renamed Maibock. It really stands out and there’s a very strong sense of branding on the beer, with an outline of a large cyclone and the beer logo top center.

JerseyCyclone_3rdAnniversaryCans

Congratulations to Jan, Brian, Charles, Taylor, and the whole crew at Jersey Cyclone on 3 years of brewing delicious beers! You all should be proud of the beers you’ve been making, including this flavorful, balanced, hoppy delight. I can only, highly recommend fellow craft beer enthusiasts like myself visit the brewery.

As for Eye of the Storm Category Three: Recommended, link to Untappd 4-star rating.

JerseyCyclone_EyeCat3

Beer Review: Burlington Beer Co.’s Beekeeper

Beer Review

Name: Beekeeper
Brewing Company: Burlington Beer Company
Location: Burlington, VT
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England/Hazy
ABV: 9%

My first sampling of a Burlington Beer Co beer is a delicious, sweet hoppy IPA that should have wide appeal to craft beer drinkers.

From Burlington Beer Co.’s landing page for the beer:

Beekeeper is a New England style Honey Double IPA brewed with an absolutely absurd quantity of Vermont Honey. Heavily hopped with Simcoe, Cascade, and Amarillo to provide flavors and aromas of Dank Weed, Ripe Peaches, and a bouquet of Fresh cut Flowers.

Cans of Burlington Beer Company started appearing on shelves in coolers here in NJ over the last 6 months to year, the majority of which are their IPAs. I’ve been looking to sample one of their beers since then, but was looking for something slightly outside their main/flagship IPAs. When this beer, brewed with an “absurd” amount of honey, showed up at one of my local liquor stores, I found the one to ry.

The first thing that stands out to me is this really cool can art. It fits with what seems to be the branding for Burlington Beer Company; the complementary colors of yellow/gold and blue, really pops out.

Out of the can, the liquid that fills my glass could easily be mistaken for orange juice shaken vigorously just prior to being poured in the glass. In other words, it fits the mold of a Hazy IPA. I breathe in the beer and get mostly hops on the nose. Again, pretty much what I expect.

I finally take a first taste/sip of the beer and my palate is greeted with bold hops of the tropical nature. Maybe peaches like the description says, but more of a mélange of juicy flavors. There’s some thick dankness to the beer, too. I’m pleased there isn’t a strong bitter finish, which is probably from the abundance of honey that coats the entire flavor profile. It isn’t too sweet, rather it is quite delicious.

Burlington calls this a “Honey IPA” and I can’t argue the name. Beekeeper is undoubtedly an IPA with all the hoppy goodness one would expect, but the sweet honey flavor is in harmonious balance with the blend of the Simcoe, Cascade, and Amarillo hops. Simcoe is a hop that will call to me if I see it as a predominant hop in an IPA, it strikes a nice balance between the piney/bitter West Coast IPA, but also has some nice tropical hints that work well in the Hazy/New England IPAs.

All told, Beekeeper is a damned fine beer. It is the type of IPA that will appeal to beer drinkers who have some aversions to hop-forward beers, but is hoppy enough and has a strong enough IPA profile to appeal to die hard hop heads.

Recommended, link to 4 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Beer Review: Tree House Brewing’s Haze

Beer Review

Name: Haze
Brewing Company: Tree House Brewing Company
Location: Charlton, MA
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.2% | IBU: 90

“A quintessential juice bomb, a definitive and foundational Imperial Hazy New England IPA. Simply a must have beer.”

From Tree House Brewings’s page for Haze:

Our core double IPA! Haze is crafted with pale malt and an extreme kettle and dry hop dose of our favorite Northwest American hops. We smell a ton of peach on the nose, with complimentary notes of orange and passionfruit. The flavor is similar with a blast of citrus fruit & peach quickly followed by a bounty of tropical fruit. A lingering and pleasant saturated hop oil finish awaits. . . . A real juice bomb of a beer, and a true Tree House original.

Tree House Brewing is one of the highest profile, most well respected independent small breweries in the country. They are at the forefront of breweries pioneering and making popular the style of New England IPA. I haven’t visited yet, but fortunately, a few friends at work have and were kind enough to pass along one of their “extras” to me because you can only get the beer at the brewery.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, the visuals of the beer. If you gave me the beer I poured into the glass without the can, I would guess that it was orange juice. The nose give hints of that, there’s a nice mix of citrus sweetness and hoppy bitterness wafting off the hazy beer. While the underlying scent is beer, you’d be forgiven for mistaking this for orange or orange citrus punch by look and aroma.

Diving in and tasting it, I’m hit with a soft, hoppy, delicious beer. There’s a creaminess and a very soft (I hate this word) mouthfeel to the beer, one of the most pleasant “feeling” beers I’ve ever had. Makes it hard to believe this beer is ratcheted up at 90 IBUs. The finish is tropically sweet with a pleasant hop bite and hints of the hop oil I’ve come to expect and enjoy from the more well-made Imperial IPAs (I’m looking at you Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute and Burton Baton).

The flavor is super potent to the point that this beer is as close to a chewable IPA as you’ll find. That citrus/hoppy juice bomb lingers long enough for you to take your time enjoying the beer. Considering the ABV is 8.2% taking your time with this beer is a wise choice. On the other hand, the beer is so delicious you want more. And more. And more. All of *that* having been said, unless you live in Massachusetts near the brewery, getting beer from Tree House Brewing is far from an easy task so you really want to savor the beer for as long as possible.

One thought that came to me as I was enjoying the beer is that this would be a good beer for breakfast or brunch. I’d normally think a Breakfast Stout (brewed with Oatmeal and Coffee) would be the ideal “breakfast beer.” Then I had this juice bomb, with that delicious hop profile, this wouldn’t be a bad choice for a fancy brunch.

This is one of the beers (along with their flagship Julius) that helped to put Tree House Brewing on the map, helped to establish the style of New England IPA on an “Imperial” or “Double IPA” level, and transform the idea that an Imperial IPA can evoke juiciness just as much as it can evoke pleasant bitterness. This beer may even be considered a modern American Craft Beer Classic.

Quite simply, this is one of the best IPAs I’ve ever had.

Recommended, link to Untappd 4.75-bottle cap rating.

Beer Review: Conclave’s Gravitational Pull

Beer Review

Name: Gravitational Pull
Brewing Company: Conclave Brewing
Location: Raritan Township, NJ
Style: India Pale Ale / New England IPA
ABV: 6.6%

From the beer’s description on Conclave’s Web site:

Juicy and hoppy. An American IPA double dry hopped with large amounts of Galaxy, Motueka, and Azacca hops. Not bitter with notes of fresh crushed citrus.

Here we are back to New Jersey for a delicious beer from the fine brewers at Conclave. Not only that, an IPA? What? We thought you don’t like IPAs that much, Rob? Yet here is the second beer review of an IPA and you’ve yet to review one of your favorite styles like Porters or some other styles you enjoy more. Well, two things. First, Porters are more of a fall/cool weather beer for me and we are just in our first year here at the Tap Takeover. Second, the fact that I’m “reviewing” a second IPA should be an indication of just how wonderful this beer is.

The first, most noticeable characteristic of the beer is the thick, hazy, orange color. It pours almost like pulpy orange juice, the same consistency and thickness, but without the pulp. The aroma is a refreshing blend of citrus and hops, a nice balance that is very inviting.

The first taste gives you the hops, but not in a bludgeoning overpowering way that many IPAs deliver. The citrus/juice-bomb finish of that first sip encourages you to drink more. It is such an elegantly crafted beer that one pint can go too fast. Although the taste expands a little bit as it warms to room temperature, for me, this one tastes better colder.

The blend of the three hops in the beer, the Motueka in particular, is what lends the citrusy tropical fruit flavor to this beer. I think this is the second time Conclave has brewed this beer and if I recall correctly from briefly chatting with owner Carl when I had my growler filled on Friday, the Motueka hops aren’t the easiest to acquire, nor are the Galaxy hops, both of which lend a citrusy/tropical fruit flavor profile. A brief Google search points to New Zealand as the source for the Motueka hops and Australia for the Galaxy hops, so that challenge makes sense. The more common Azacca hops in the beer to blend extremely well with the Motueka and Galaxy hops, enhancing that juice-bomb aspect to the beer.

Equation for Newton Universal Gravitation, used as icon for the beer on untappd

OK, that was a little bit of a science, geography, and business lesson, back to the beer.

I briefly mentioned Gravitational Pull in my August round up and my feature on Conclave, so again, the repeated mentions of this beer should only point to what a standout beer this is. The first time I had it was in a bar, so as soon as I saw a new batch was ready for growler fills at the brewery, I had to go. I was also hoping there would be some cans of it, but not just yet.

The first pour from the mini growler on Friday night was fantastic, so fresh and juicy. I wanted to save the remaining pint of the 32 oz. growler for the next night and it stayed just as juicy and delicious the following day. I don’t know that I’d want to get a full 64 oz. growler for myself over the course of multiple days because I just don’t know how long it would stay fresh. I’ve had growlers of stouts over the course of a few days and around day 3 or 4 the freshness and taste start to fade. For an IPA like this one, I think freshness is the key.

Image/Logo used by Conclave in advertising beer’s availability at the brewery

Right now on untappd Gravitational Pull is categorized as an “American IPA” though I suspect this might change to New England IPA since this beer seems to have all the characteristics I’ve read that are associated with NEIPAs. Irregardless, Gravitational Pull is a great, great beer and one that is helping to establish Conclave Brewing as one of the premier (out of 70~) NJ Breweries.

Recommended, link to Untappd 4.25-star rating.