I'm also a little annoyed with the names in this series. I get it; it's Crooked Tree and the hop strain backwards. But it's really annoying to type. My alma mater is 10 minutes down the road; you can do better! Hopefully the beer is better than the name.
It pours a hazy amber color with a smallish white head. The aroma is the usual expected Cascade traits of pine and citrus, as well as some caramel and toffee and a random floral note. It's not an overwhelming aroma, fairly faint. When you taste it, there's an onslaught of lemon, orange, and pine that finishes a bit metallic. OK, now I'm starting to wonder if my taste buds are off or if we have a questionable sampler pack, because I don't recall Cascade hops finishing metallic. At the very end, long after you've swallowed your sip, there is an earthy note that I don't find offensive. I've had some Cascade-heavy beers that are too earthy and just taste dirty; this doesn't go that far. This is perfectly carbonated and I just want to call it "well-rounded", as it's well structured and has a noticeable malt base. You know it's there, although it doesn't really compete with the hops.
If you're not a hop-head or if you're developing your hop legs, I'd suggest giving this a go, as it's fairly innocuous as far as IPA's go. It's also a great example of a single-hop beer that's well done. I still prefer regular Crooked Tree (spelled forward) or Double Crooked Tree, but I'm glad we got this.
4.3/5 caps
-Jennie
It really didn't win over dinner with my dad. It's just a lazy day.And wow this has has become the most interesting beer review later. Phil started screaming for help.... He was just having a bad dream and sleep screaming... That makes for an interesting rush into the other room, though. And back to listening to New Order "Bizarre Love Triangle". It is seriously the most infectious song ever, as it gets stuck in my head multiple times a day, and no matter how many times I listen to it, it never gets old. And speaking of getting old, I hope I die before I get old (talkin' bout my generation).
Jennie pretty much nailed the description of the color and aroma. The flavor, though, I must differ on. Now mind you, this has had a chance to warm up while she was doing the lead on this. This is an interesting IPA, as it is, like the FF, rather light. The hops don't really kick in (so to speak) until the back end, and it's a barrage of citrus and pine. And Sweet Fucking Jesus, can I finish a review without an interruption? This time it's the god damn grey monster trying to get into the closet we have our home brew in (happily bubbling some still after 7 days). There's NOTHING in there for you cat, and I'm still pissed off at you for trying to claw my eyeball earlier. Note, this cat has become my Edward (Hunter S. Thompson's bird reference, not any sort of sparkling emo vampire reference- Watch "Gonzo", the documentary about Hunter S. Thompson, and you'll understand the reference).
But I seem to be getting sidetracked, much like your friendly neighborhood barfly. I'm uh trying to tell you something, (nonsensical mumblings). Eh? Yeah. You uh know what I'm saying. Do that... That thing with the thing, you know, the thing er you did there at um, um, um, Jimmy's party thing that people laughed at. Yeah, the Jimmy's party thing, do it.
But no, back to strict business of reviewing hoppy libations. I don't really get a metallic taste, like my hippy chic counterpart does, No, I get the hop barrage on the back end, as previously stated, with some lingering bitterness. The mouthfeel of this is a little heavier that the FF, but still on the lighter side.The hop presence in this makes itself more known than the FF, and I don't know if it's the hop addition times of the brewing process, the quantity of hops they used, or the differing Alpha and Beta acids in the different hop strains. But I think this is better than the FF.
4.5/5 caps
-Nathan
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