Foothills Seeing Double IPA

on tap at the Flying Saucer in Raleigh and again the next night at Tyler’s in Durham. was told this had not been on tap in a while, so assume my pints were from pretty fresh kegs. poured a mostly clear, orangey-dark amber with a one finger white head leaving a great looking silky lace on the sides of the glass. aroma was slightly floral, but had plenty of citrus and pine notes and a touch of earthy grain. flavor was a well balanced mix of citrus sweetness up front, followed by the caramel sweetness and finishing with lingering pine resin bitterness. this was not the hop bomb of a IIPA which have become so common. if not for the 9.5% abv, which was well hidden btw, this would be very sessionable. a very enjoyable beer!
10/19/09 had this again last Thursday at the saucer in Raleigh. many times a beer is not as good as one remembers... this was the exception, this was BETTER than I remember! dangerously drinkable.

Tap at some bar in Durham.

Not nearly the standout that the Total Eclipse stout was, this is a rather run-of-the-mill IIPA, fruity, grapefruit pith, a bit sweet. Alright.

Light hazy amber colour with a white head. Light caramel sweet aroma hoppy, peach fruity notes and hints of pine. Caramel sweet flavor with peach fruity notes.

Growler, fresh from brewery. Pours a deep opaque orange-amber with a thick, long lasting, creamy off-white head, which leaves nice sticky lacing. Though I’ve had this many times, this time the aroma jumps out as fruity, flowery and winey, like a chardonnay. Great sharp, sappy citrus hop aroma with some sweet malts far in the background. Delicious citrus hopjuice flavor, but with plenty of balance and hardly any alcohol; quite a feat given the ABV. Medium full bodied and smooth, with moderate, soft carbonation. Balances prickly bitter, but not overly so. Super DIPA; one of my favorites.

Pour from a growler. Thanks Ryan! I was stunned by this beer. It’s almost close to a barleywine with such big, strong malt flavors and sweetness. The hops are huge too. Seems like all the big American hops are showing up for the party. Big, but balanced and surprisingly drinkable. Sticky on the finish, but still manages to be clean. The breadiness, sweetness and nuttiness combined with the hops of this beer are pretty incredible. The best offering of the three Foothills brews I’ve had. The hype is true: A great brewery and a great beer!

What a treat for my 300th! On draft at the brewpub. A truly great brew from a small local brewery. Pours a translucent tangerine orange with some cloudiness and sustainable light tan ring of head. Aroma reminded me of a Hopslam. Flavor of earthy pine with some notes of nugget and honey. Medium body with fair carbonation made for dangerously easy drinking. Lingering hop bitterness.

tap - asheville bier garden

hazy orange color with a thick white head. Big floral citrus aroma. Smooth, round full mouth feel with excellent carbonation. Huge hop flavor, leaning towards astringent bitterness, but also good amounts of fresh hop juciness. Flavors were floral with strong resiny sap notes. Long (long) lasting bitterness. Best NC beer I’ve had.

From growler thanks to Axilla. Poured hazy copper amber in color with a foamy tan head that left lacing on the glass. Aroma of citrus hops, oranges, and a sweet malty backbone. Tastes of orange peel, pine, citrus hops with a linguring sweet mouthfeel. Not a bad IIPA.