Thursday, March 20, 2008

Hazed & Infused

Welcome to the madness, I hope you were able to avoid work and enjoy all the basketball action today. For my session beer. on this bright spring day, I decided to go with one of my favorite pale ales, Boulder Beer's Hazed & Infused. This is a lovely dry-hopped ale, which means there were extra hops added at some point after the wort boil, this tends to infuse a beer with extra hop aromas without adding extra bitterness.

The pour is a hazy orange-copper color with a fluffy off-white head that slowly settle into a nice film and leave some decent lacing on the sides. The aroma pops with a bouquet of hops. Orange zest, pine oil, some floral notes dominate the nose. There is a touch of biscuit malt in there as well. A really great smelling beer.

The flavor continues the citrus theme with grapefruit and a lemony tartness. Balance is provided by a touch of malty sweetness and some grain-like flavors. There is some bitterness but it does not distract form the other flavors. The swallow is dry with a piny tart finish. Moderate carbonation and medium body provide a crisp mouth feel.

Overall this is a nice easy drinking ale that has a great hop aroma and very little bitterness. Really, every pale ale should be dry-hopped, a regular pale ale pales in comparison. This brew would make a good starter beer for the hop newbie who might be intimidated by the bitterness of IPAs. Add in the fact that this brew has a mere 4.85% ABV and it's a beer that can be enjoyed during a full day of basketball madness or any other spring time activities of your choice.

2 comments:

  1. Getting pretty good with the camera there! Love the last shot. And the beer, too ;)

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  2. I often wondered what dry-hopping was exactly-now I know. I seen an ale that said dry-hopped on the bottle but since I was not sure what that was all about I did not buy it. I going to now.

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