Town Hall Fresh Hop Ale 2007

Formerly brewed at Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

Gold color with a medium head. Very light hop aroma, which surprised me. The taste, however, is not light. Incredibly punishing onslaught of citrus and pine hops. The hops almost disappear as if overwhelmed by pure alpha acid. Enjoyable for the first half pint, then just painful.

This year, 200 pounds of Cascades, picked last week, shipped out via FedEx on Wednesday, started the brewing Thursday. Didn’t catch the abv on it, but it’s not about the booze, it’s all about the amazing, in-you-face hoppitude. Two pints at the pub for the tapping, and now I pour from a growler into an Urthel tulip glass. Hazed, pale apricot/peach appearance, lively head, white and bubbly. Lovely. Amazing aroma Fresh, vibrant pine and citrus, orange, lemon, and grapefruit. Bold and beautiful. On the tongue and in the mouth: Bam, bam, bam! Slick and sleek, big bitterness blasts the palate, coats the senses. Rides up and down the tongue, tickling every bump and every inch of it. Lean-bodied, not a word from malt, but, of course, that’s not the point of this ambitious experiment. Not so much body, but the huge citrus-y hop flavor hangs on the tongue forever! If you really, really want to taste the hops, when "a kiss of the hops" won’t do...damn, but this is the stuff. And the tradition continues...there’s my complimentary hop cone floating in the froth inside the growler. Some might call this too extreme. I call it love.

Crisp orange color with rocky white head. Citrus, pine, and a little floral hop on the nose. Intensely bitter body that masks much of the hops’ flavor initially. The aftertaste was very harsh.

Light amber color full fluffy rocky head w/ thick lacing. Huge fresh floral & citrus hop aroma some light fruits & a hint of carmel. Oily well coated palate. Nicely bitter flavor piney resious hops dominate some citrus and a touch of carmel. A bit to 1 dimmensional.

On-tap at the brewpub: Bright, clear, medium pale gold color. Starchy tight white foam on top reaching finger high height lasts well before setting as a light skim and collar. All sorts of weird lacing patterns that looks like thick cob webby stuff. Bold citrusy nose with a slender pine resin undertow. Thoughts of grapefruit, lime, and lemon are present with the freshness of crisp morning air. Mmm...hops all over the place. Crunchy, bright, fresh, brittle, and bold. Tons of raw citrusy action of juices, pith, and peel balanced slightly with a bit of toasted tender sweetness and piney resin oils. Quite snappy and yummy with a wonderfully pleasant bitterness thats handled well and lasts forever and a day. A fun tingling dance of hops that brings lemon and grapefruit around and around and around again with lots of buzz, zing, and snap. Feel is quite big and bright with a snappy crunchyness and wonderful crisp notion of tangy hop citric juices and floating pine ascents. Big finish of clean inviting bitterness of pine and citrusy things. Beware; the tongue will need a break from time to time, but man this stuff is tasty fresh and very impressionable. If you like’a da hops, then you gonna like’a dis beer!

Tap. Pours orange/gold with a nice creamy head. As per the norm on all Town Hall beers, excellent lacing down the glass. Beautiful aroma of hops: citrus, pine and a hint of cannabis. Very bitter and crisp on the palate with, you guessed it, boatloads of hops. Nice, but a tad out of balance.

On tap. A clear amber color with a good sized chunky head, nice lacing. Aroma of a whole lot of pine, some citrus as well. Strong bitterness. Nice beer, hops are showcased.

This has a huge hop nose. This also has a whole helluva lot os abrasive hops. Last year was grea, this year is just too much.