The Audacity Of Hops by Cambridge Brewing company. @CambridgeBrewer
This is the second offering from CBC that I'm reviewing, but by no means the only beer I've had by them. Their brew pub is just a short walk from my office, this is the closest brewery to me. I'm excited to see them produce more bottled beer. The beer is brewed for them at mercury brewing just like my last review. I had originally intended on drinking this yesterday for the holiday, time slipped away and by the time I remembered it was much too late. The beer was originally created as a collaboration by Ben Howe and Will Myers, and it went on to be the official beer of the 2009 Craft Brewers Conference. While the first time bottled for public sale, it has some history.
Yellow/Golden pour, w/out the typically pillowy belgian head I was expecting. The Aroma is clearly yeasty and has some clove notes. No doubt this belgian double ipa has some hops in it. These are what I think are noble hops, floral and spicy, as compared to their north american citrus and pine counter parts. I never quite know what to make of belgian style beers, and this is no exception. The twist for me is the flavor, it's bitter grapefruit pith all the way.
I'd recommend this if you like flowery bitter beers, this is a good beer with a spicy meal, it has enough flavor and punch to cut through the heat, and make it's own impression.
Taste: B+ This is a really well made beer.
Drinkability: B- It slides, but it's abv and it's strong flavor / bitter punch would do a number on your taste buds.
Vital Stats: Served in an perfect pint, 9% ABV. 70 IBUs. OG: 1.076 FG: 1.008
Label: B+. It's a nice looking logo, most importantly the bottled date / batch info. Mercury does a really nice job with their packaging. Key for a contract brewery.
