Bottom of the 9th and my Starter wasn’t available so I had to go to the Bench and bring in my pinch bitter, Shorty Hills*. Will this be a hit or will Shorty be another Casey at the bat and come up short**?
The Bench Brewing slogan is “the beer from wine country”. For a beer drinker such as myself that is not an endearing tag line. How about this instead “one of the beers that makes wine country bearable.” Ok, that may not sit well with the local chamber of commerce, we may have to rethink this marketing campaign a bit. In the meantime we have a beer to chill, pour, quaff, and report on.
A bright golden slightly hazy pour with lots of bubbles and its all coming to a head. Nice pour, well done. Thanks. It has a hoppy aroma with some tropical fruit playing a supporting role. First quaff is bubbly, fizzy with a strong hops body, a touch of fruit in the aftertaste, seems ass backwards to me. An AB IPA? As the bubbly settled down it let some fruit show up and begins to transition to fruit body with lite hops finish, the yin and yang (the zing and tang) of an IPA*** in sequence and balance. An interesting transition, I think the high level of carbonation was hiding some flavour, a bit of decant certainly helped this brew. A nice summery brew, far more refreshing than any grape based beverage, regardless of where it comes from.
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