The Tap Ascension

Brewed by Haverhill Brewery, Inc / The Tap
Style: Belgian Ale
Haverhill, Massachusetts USA

Melons and grass on the nose. Hops are a little aged smelling. Pours golden amber nice head and good sticky lace. Light caramel, grass, melons, soft fruity notes. A sweet grassy finish. Decent drinkable, but I would prefer more hops in a Belgian Style IPA.

22. thanks, riverside! pours a cloudy dark amber with a nice creamy layer of tan foam. big peachy nose. very much a fresh fruit aroma. creamy medium body with firm carb. peachy, light grassy notes. mild sweetish finish.

In short: Some kind of Belgian-IPA hybrid with a earthy grass character. Good beer.
How: Bottle 22oz. Purchased directly at the brewpub and consumed fresh a few days later
The look: Cloudy orange body topped by a off-white ring of foam
In long: The floral and grassy hoppy nose is dirty/earthy. Quite a bit of slightly toasted malt sweetness in there with 2/3 caramel and 1/3 honey. Rich maltiness but not sugary. Somewhat yeasty. A whole lot of hops that are very grassy and earthy (green front lawn grass) with resinous and floral notes. A certain hops spiciness also comes through. Strangely astringent. According to my bottle the beer uses “massive amount of Noble Saaz”. It is grassy but I honestly would have never guessed there was even a little Saaz in this beer. A good beer but all in all it came through as a bit too earthy, almost muddy. Named after a religious concept that to the beer geek atheist that I am is equivalent to going to a place where I can get 3 Fonteinen Framboos without having to trade any of my rare lambics in exchange.

Large bottle. This one was quite drinkable but it didn’t really do much for me. Pours amber with a slight head. Sweet, but not overly, with some spiciness but I found it to be lacking and somewhat on the boring side.

Pours deep amber into a snifter. Crackling head recedes to coat surface. Mild fruity aromas. Slight caramel and biscuit upfront. Medium duration bitter pepper finish.

Bottle… Hazy amber ale with orange highlights and a small, creamy, white head. Decent retention. Fruity, peppery aroma with a drop of honey. Medium to full-bodied with tickling carbonation. Sweet and biscuity up front; moderate peppery bitterness on the backside. Bittersweet finish. Kudos to growler for bringing this bottle to Florida to share!

From a 1 pt. 6 fl. oz. bottle with no lot code or brewing date but it was received at the bottle shop where I bought it on July 5. A funny thing after I uncapped the bottle and poured it. A two inch bubble popped over the top of the bottle and stayed there for a good couple minutes. The pour was a cloudy copper with a thin foamy, white head. The aroma is hoppy and like raisins. The taste is well hopped and dry. Overall I thought it was a nice brew.

My Bottom Line:
This Belgian-style Ale promotes biscuity and honeyed malts balanced out by herbal hop and their earthy bitterness.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam floats atop the bright and hazy amber.
-The flavor profile is classy and clean, but may be a tad too sweet to be really authentic.
-Effervescence is soft, which increases drinkability.
-The Saaz hop character could have come through more aromatically, methinks.

From the bottle and from the tap at the brewpub.