Homestead is just down the road from us. We've previously reviewed their Claim Jumper IPA and have been intrigued by them since. Local brew with a great IPA, sign me up. We were excited when we saw this at Palmer's, and this became part of our Christmas gift from our friends (they gave us a Visa gift card, it bought this and the Orthodox from Actual Brewing). This is bottle #163 of this brew. 163 sounds lucky to where I might play the lottery with those numbers.
This poured weird. I poured Jennie's first, crystal clear amber with about a finger worth of thick cream head. When I poured mine, I noticed there were chunks of sediment that came pouring out of bottle. Some large chunks that floated to the top with the carbonation. My sample is a hazy amber with sediment chunks. Now, this would be off-putting to a normal person, but I've had more sediment in a glass than this. The aroma is a slice of Valhalla. Nice citrus and tropical fruit nose with a hint of sweetness. The flavor is.... okay... I literally just stopped typing and said "Holy Fuck!" This is great. What you pick up in the nose, you get in the taste, only in a huge juicy manner. The tropical fruit pops with a nice blend of orange and some zest. This isn't overly bitter, nay, juicy and refreshing. This is what my birthday home brew should have been like! I'm excited. This gets my mind racing trying to think of how to even find the proper wording to give homage to this! After the initial burst of juiciness, there is a nice biscuit and caramel blend of the malt flavors that join together in perfect unison with the hops. If you're put off by sediment in beer, man up. This is worth every delicious sip. The mouthfeel is smooth and refreshing, like drinking a glass of OJ. Jennie better hurry up before I drink her half. Homestead's website lists this at 6.3% ABV with question marks as the IBUs. It's so good though, I'm fine without knowing the IBUs.
This is fantastic and well worth the money. I would expect to have paid a lot more than $5.99 for this bomber with the quality of product. This is a religious experience in a bottle. There will always be room in the fridge and my heart for Homestead now.
5/5 caps (wish I could give it higher)
-Nathan-
I'm not quite sure how to follow this up... other than I have promised to show Nathan the expression on my face when I take a sip. I was rather impressed with Homestead's Claim Jumper IPA, and I really want to try their Stove Pipe Winter Porter. I love that they're pretty readily available within the Columbus market, and they're really reasonably priced. I also love that they make sessionable beers, and that's their focus.
I can keep my partner-in-zymurgy waiting no longer. My glass has absolutely no sediment, although I'm not opposed to a little chunk in my beer on occasion. It's a lovely medium orange-amber color with a hint of off-white creamy head still gracing the top of my portion. The aroma is tantalizing, with soft-yet-bright citrus notes and caramel teasing my nostrils. OK, I took a sip. My reaction was not quite as over-the-top as Nathan's, but it didn't disappoint. A dreamy look crossed my face, and I said, "Oh, this is good." It's really juicy at the front and middle, and then fades to an earthier note, finishing quite dry. There are discernible pineapple, caramel, papaya, and general citrus notes in here that are fantastic, which fade into grapefruit zest toward the end. The biscuit and caramel notes that were noted earlier dance in and out amid the tropical citrus joy. Like Nathan, I simply adore the juicy notes in here.
To stave off Nathan from drinking my portion while my hands were covered in paint, I had Dad take a sip. His reaction was, "Oh, that's really good!" Then he promptly went to bed, as any good 79-year-old should do.
This beer has me longing for a beach-side chair in a tropical location, such as Fiji, where exotic fruits aren't considered exotic. It's a wonderful detractor from the several inches of snow we were inundated with earlier today.
Cheese pairing: Vermont sharp white cheddar
Food pairing: Quiche Lorraine, because of the fantastic contrast with the juicy notes. And everything goes better with bacon, nay?
Music pairing: Son House "John the Revelator"
5/5 caps
-Jennie
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