Hop Harvest Ale - Empire Brewing Company

WesWes

New York

3.58/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a beautiful amber color with a thick frothy off-white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a your basic pale and crystal malt scent along with a mild hop nose. It's not overly aromatic, but it does provide a nice fresh hop scent. The taste is decent as well. It has an easy drinking caramel malt flavor that's a tad sweet. The hop character isn't as pronounced as I would expect. There is adequate bitterness, but the flavor is a slight step forward from an English Bitter. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a pretty solid offering, but not the hop bomb I was expecting.

Serving type: growler

09-22-2011 21:30:48 | More by WesWes

ThePorterSorter

New York

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

09-23-2012 17:45:36 | More by ThePorterSorter

kkosmoski

New York

3.93/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer was poured into an imperial pint glass from a growler filled at the brewpub. A beautiful light amber hue in the glass with just a slight bit of haze and a healthy thick white head on top. Rocky head leaves stick on the glass as it starts to die down. Not a whole lot going on in the aroma - a small amount of toast and some honey along with a subtle grassy lemon scent. Citrus flavors to begin followed by a lemony bitterness that latches on and holds on strong through to the finish. Some light grainy notes pop up around the finish to lend a small supporting role to the hops. Not really any residual sweetness to speak of, just a crisp, dry, and bitter pale ale. Mouthfeel is medium-light, dry, and crisp with a fairly high level of carbonation. The bitter dryness of this ale encourages continued consumption for me, but it is not exactly "balanced", so non bitter beer fans may have a tough time.

Word on the street is this ale was brewed with locally grown hops from a variety of sources. A very cool endeavor for a place that focuses on utilizing locally produced goods. Overall a good first crack at a fresh hop ale. The unpredictability of the fresh hops makes balancing the beer difficult and this one came out on the bitter side, but it was an enjoyable ale.

Serving type: growler

10-11-2008 01:06:30 | More by kkosmoski