This was brewed for the first time for Lora’s 50th birthday party, and hence the fun name.
Starts with a light sweet aroma. Has a crisp bite at the beginning that spreads out to a broader hop flavor, then fades into nothingness. It starts out fairly aggressive, but finishes smooth. Kind of like an aggressively mellow beer.
Brewed: 6/26/2020. Distributed: 8/13/2020.
ABV: 5.3% IBU: 38
Malts: Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat
Hops: Calypso
Yeast: Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager
Faint floral aroma. First taste is crisp with a slight sweetness to it. Aftertaste has mild hop character that grows over time. Near zero carbonation- not sure if that’s intentional or a packaging flaw. It’s good that it’s only 4.3% ABV since it goes down so smooth.
Second can had slightly more carbonation. The increased carbonation helps perk this up.
4 out of 5 stars.
Lots of full-flavored malt in the aroma and taste. Not overpowering, but can’t be overlooked. Lager malt makes it go down smooth. A version of a beer I made before that I loved. But this time I had to substitute my recipe’s melanoidin malt for some aromatic malt. It came out a bit more of a nutty malt flavor than the original recipe.
Brewed: 6/24/2020. Distributed: 7/22/2020.
ABV: 5.0% IBU: 58
Malts: Pilsner, Vienna, Cara aroma, Carafa II
Hops: Hallertauer, Northern Brewer
Yeast: Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager
Fresh floral hop aromas with a sweet yeast tinge. Flavor is super smooth, with a full taste bud awakening, but no harsh or bitter aspects. Hops are subdued and you can detect a hint of clean maltiness, which you can’t typically detect in hazy IPAs. Very refreshing and smooth.
I first came across this on draft several months ago and feel in love. I haven’t seen it in cans/bottles until just recently.
5 out of 5 stars.
Canned on 4/22/2020, this review done on 7/8/2020. Hops have a fruity and resinous aroma. Taste has notable caramel malt sweetness and clean bitterness in background. Finishes fairly clean with slight lingering of both the hop bitterness and caramel sweetness.
4 out of 5 stars.
Canned on 12/26/2019, this review on 7/8/2020, so not that fresh for a hazy IPA. Bright fruity hop aromas, almost floral. Smooth bite of hops that gets filled in with malt that is smooth and fluffy. Yeast sweetness is minor. Finishes very clean. Very tasty. Next time I’ll try to find it even fresher!
5 out of 5 stars.
I’ve had this before, but never made an official review. Reviewed here on 7/8/2020, bottled on 6/3/2020, so still fresh.
Notable aroma of hop bitterness and malt. Crisp bite of hop bitterness, decent malt flavor without caramel sweetness. Lingering hop bitterness that is notable but not overpowering. But still don’t venture here unless you definitely like hop bitterness!
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Not the typical lager. Reddish/amber color and strong bready malt flavors provided by the Munich malt. The yeast gives it a quenching punch, with little detection of hops.
Brewed: 6/5/2020. Distributed: 7/7/2020.
ABV: 5.5% IBU: 31
Malts: Munich, Brewer’s 2-row, White Wheat, Caramel 20L
Hops: Magnum, Citra, Galena
Yeast: WLP830 German Lager
This was the second beer made for Jim’s failed 60th surprise birthday party. The first beer I called Get Off My Lawn as an homage to someone turning 60 and yelling and young kids in his yard. It was hoppy and higher alcohol, so it was a bit more like someone yelling, “Get Off My Lawn!” This one is mellower, but since it’s still in the “Surprise Birthday Series”, I carried forward the name, even thought it didn’t make much sense.
Slight malt sweetness with very minor hop bitterness. This is definitely more of a malty tasting beer than hoppy beer. Overall fairly mild, but still gives a tastebud tweak in the aftertaste with a bit of hops.
Brewed: 6/6/2020. Distributed: 7/1/2020.
ABV: 6.2% IBU: 34
Malts: Maris Otter, Brewer’s 2-row Pale, White Wheat, Munich Malt
Hops: Hallertauer, Citra, Columbus, Simcoe
Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale
Almost no aroma. Very little taste, a bit of caramel malt. Carbonation seems low, maybe they’re calling sure to quarantine, but not really carbonated canning. Might be a very different beer if well carbonated.
3 out of 5 stars.