Ummmm, hop-elicious. Who cares what this thing looks like; the first thing to hit you as you pour this baby is the resinious, cirtusy pine aroma. It smells like walking into a hop storage cooler. But after that you will notice a big head comes rolling out but does not stay long. The color is deep amber with a brown tint. Now as the more volatile aromas boil off you can notice a fruity orange component as well a hint of crystal malt. The aroma is superb, in fact I am delaying trying a taste just so I can full appreciate its beautiful aroma. The flavors are all about the hops as well. Medium body with a bit grapefruit hop flavor and as that hop hit dies down the flavor moves into a fruity orange and woody hop mélange. Although this has a good hop bitterness it is not overpowering; the malting is just enough to balance the bitterness but not so much as to detract from this awesome hop flavor. For a hop driven beer to get my A+ two thumbs up rating, it has to be complex, balanced, and drinkable. Hop Henge is all that and more.
Not too sure how long this will last this year. I am having to fight for quantities with some of the large chain store here in Portland. The found out how good it was last year and now are doing up 30 case displays in each of their stores. I"ll do what I can to get you your Henge but the supply may end abruptly.
# posted by Beer_Matt @ 5:11 PM
