Town Hall Fresh Hop Ale 2007

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

Holy crap am i a big fan of this. So much hops in this its ridiculous. Like chewing on a hop flower for sure. Smells like hops, weird! Unlike any IPA i have ever tasted. Tastes super fresh and the hop burn was thick, and o sooo good. I best get another growler before this is gone.

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.

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!

Vintage rating. Growler with a whole hops right in the growler, wow that was the first time i ever saw that. Pours an orange golden body with a white head. Grass y floral citrus notes. Some light pine and a light tangerine and lush citrus finish. Great IPA. These guys rock!

Hops all around with this one. Bit of a marijuana aroma, citrus flavor with a dry finish.

On tap. Fresh and clean tasting, very bitter hop bomb, but just missing some of the flavor to along with it. Its hiding in there, but the bitterness won’t let it out.

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.

Orangish amber in color, pillowy, web-y off white head that left some awesome lacing. Pungent, stinging hop aroma, packed with citrus flavors of ornage, grapefruit, and tangerine, as well as some apricot and mango, and ofcourse plenty of pine resin. Through all of this, believe it or not, there is a bit of toasty malt detectable that provides a voice of reason through all of this insanity. The taste has a sharp bitter edge to it, but its amazing how the hop flavors readily unlock, bitter orange and grapefruit rinds. Again, a touch of the that toasted malt does show up, but whos kidding who here. Overall: you can’t really call a fresh hop ale balanced, but compared to last years from Town Hall, I felt like this one was a bit more palatable. Last years seemed a bit too piney, and taste bud stripping when it was first released, while this years had more citrus right in your face, and the malt was atleast decectable. I will leave you with the last line from my hand written notes. mmm.