White Birch Hooksett Ale - White Birch Brewing

Cavery

California

4.5/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A pint provided by AleLovinRuskie (thanks!). Acquired in a recent trade, and shared with Klym.

Bottled April 2011
Batch 5
Bottle # 1808

Poured into Lost Abbey Tulips.

A: A very luminous rustic orange body with super sticky large to medium bubble foam. The lacing shows the remnants of the 2 1/2 finger head. Sprawling islands of cobwebs patch the sides of the glass. This thing looks like an absolute champion, even with some months behind it. A slightly red character to the body makes for a bit of a memorable departure from typical images in style.

S: A really rich powdery bakery of a nose. Rustic breads with handfuls of dried nectarines, apricots, and pineapple slices. Love the nose on this thing, the marriage of baking flours and dried fruits takes me to French Patisseries. Loving this nose, crazy bakery flavors that take me to another place. The malt sweetness is so married with tropical dried fruits that I just marvel at the swirling sweet complexity.

T: The taste is very mellow, with slight notes of alcohol glazed toasted breads. Darker french bread crusts crack and leave those bready bits that linger on the palate like a teasing of breads that have since left the bakery. I sense a little bit of this flavor character might have passed, but the leftovers are delicious. I get a very specific lentil like sweetness that dances a bit with brown sugars to make for a great topping on toasted breads. I really like the balance on this thing, even if some of the complexity has passed, the balance hasn't. A brief hop linger passes with the breads.

M: A soft melting cotton candy in the mouth, really there is truly a melting sensation to the feel of this beer. I love how it feels alive and fluffy, then gives into a gradual decay. The carbonation does a consistently slow release that dissolves like a piece of fancy dessert in the mouth. I really like this once again, and am impressed that this has held up so well.

O: I REALLY need to try this fresh. This is so good despite the age, and I can't help but feel extremely compelled to get a fresh bottle of this. I haven't had a balanced offering like this from the east coast before, and would love to have some more birch in my fridge. This beer drinks so easily, and is weak in no area. It would be very easy to have a mediocre offering and put some blame on the age, but this has held up so well. I'd love to try it with more alive hop character, but man what a backbone this thing has. This is a must revisit for me, and a must try for anyone reading this.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2011 03:21:12 | More by Cavery

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Connecticut

4.05/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This Belgian IPA has a deep aamber-copper color with a huge mound of oatmeal colored foam on top that collapses to a solid avalanched of head with oodles of chunky lacing. Perhaps a bit much. The aroma brings a nice blend of light fruit and clove with yeasty edges and dusty spice/bread. The flavor follows with a more serious backbone of malt and pineapple, maple and licorice yeast. Great combinations in a pretty substantially constituted brew that hints at it's 7.7 ABV. Clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and some grassy hop bitterness all make a contribution in this near full-bodied brew. It offers plenty of tasteful carbonation for a foamy, fairly luscious feel. A bit more of a mouthful than I typically look forward to in this style, but it's hard to complain. a class brew that will satisfy the tastebuds and complement the finaest cheese or pate, when you run out of pizza. Very nice.

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3.73/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

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Into a chalice:

A: hazy golden orange brown colored body with a light one finger white head that appeared for less than thirty seconds. Some slight lacing appears and trickles down the sides of the chalice. It was too hazy for any carbonation to be seen rising.

S: balanced between the hops and citrus. Some caramel comes out but it is mostly faint along with the alcohol tones

T: dominated by the hops yet some citrus came out trying to match up to the hops. The caramel is way more subdued in the taste than how it was on the smell.

M: medium, slight silkiness - possibly creamy, with a light carbonation felt

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Serving type: bottle

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