TF - Zoigl Series (West Coast Style India Pale Ale): This new collaboration with hop-grower New Zealand Hops Limited features a new experimental hop called NZ-104. It features flavor profiles that mimic citrus, pine and melon, making it perfect for a West Coast style IPA.
This IPA pours out a deep gold, with about a finger of eggshell-colored, tightly-packed head—a nice glowing translucent appearance. The aroma starts with melon, papaya, peach and a touch of blueberry. I definitely pick up on some light bready malt and, on the back end, something more akin to diesel. It's kinda like a mix of grapefruit flesh and fresh-cut flower petals.
The taste follows the nose quite closely. I get tons of cantaloupe and papaya up front, though less sweet for a West Coast style. There's something a little fleshy about it, like a cross between a juice and tea. Right behind the melon, I pick up on some stone fruit; following the theme, it's like biting into the skin of an apricot and getting that fuzzy fruit flavor along with the juicy flesh. The back end is bitter and a bit citrusy, very much reminiscent of biting into a piece of grapefruit with all the white pith attached.
It finishes clean, with little residual sweetness, but not with a tongue-scraping dryness that some beers in this style can overdo. There's something distinctively New Zealand about the flavors of this beer. For a 6.7 ABV percent brew, there really isn't much sweetness coming through from the malt. This one is all hops, even more so than some of TF's other beers—very pithy and sharp and it works well to contrast the soft juiciness of the initial taste.
Verdict: I was really impressed with this and am excited to try more from the Zoigl Series. This has a ton of rich flavor, extracting most of the good aspects of the hops without the vegetal, chemical or overly grassy flavors.
Wasatch/Squatters - Wolves of London: Based on the classic London Fog tea beverage, this English Power was made with Earl Grey tea, pouring a deep red/brown color with almost a finger and a half worth of creamy tan head which died down to a thin ring. The aroma starts off with a lower degree of high sweetness, with the tea being the first to show up. It imparts a noticeable tea aroma, with the Earl Grey sticking out nicely. Up next come the malts, which impart more caramel malt, caramel, toasted malt and biscuit-like aromas.
The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, and it starts off with a lower amount of sweetness, with the tea being the first to show up, imparting the same aspects that it did in the nose. Up next comes a little more herbal tea flavor, followed by the malts, which impart all the same aspects that they did in the aroma. This time, the English yeast is barely noticeable, and the dark malts don't show up very much either.
Verdict: I thought this was pretty nice, and a good example of the style. It lived up to the description, and had all the different aspects I was expecting, which worked better together than I thought they would. This beer lives up to its description, and doesn't disappoint.
Wolves of London is a 5.0 percent porter, and is only on draft. Growlers and crowlers are available as well. The Zoigl Series IPA is in 16-ounce cans, available to-go or to enjoy at TF.
As always, cheers!
