Pompeii - Toppling Goliath Brewing Company

tewaris

Minnesota

4/5  rDev -8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had it right after PseudoSue. Frankly it's a notch below. That said, it is a very good beer in its own right. Hazy, light amber with very good lacing. You can tell it has a rich malt base. But that doesn't get in the way of drinkability... dank, spicy aroma. I am not the biggest fan of spicy notes though. Medium bitterness and dry finish.

Serving type: on-tap

04-02-2013 05:58:10 | More by tewaris

BarrytheBear

Wisconsin

4.15/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

The combination of not getting out much these days and this beer showing up on tap was enough to propel me down freshly snowed streets.

On tap at Dexter's into a snifter.

Pours the color of pineapple juice with a few chunks of white head and light pooling at the edges.
Some excellent tropical fruit notes on the nose: guava and papaya. Malts come across as pie crust. It's a nice, and relatively unique smelling, IPA. Assuming this is due to the Mosiac hop, which I believe is the sole hop used here. Touch of booze here as well: I have no idea of the abv.

Taste is quite interesting as well and maybe it's the power of suggestion from what I have read about this hop, but there is a departure from the tropical notes of the nose into fresh blueberry and skins. Ripe blueberry, flesh, and some light grassy bitterness at the beginning and the finish. Unique and refreshing in this regard.

The mouthfeel is difficult to explain and the three of us spent a long time discussing it's qualities. On the positive end, Pompeii is light bodied and really slides along the palate. Small bubble carbonation keeps this nice and lively. On the perplexing end, the front and back end are similar in that the aforementioned flavors present themselves distinctly, but there's a void along the middle of the tongue. My friend described it as a bubble that pops on your tongue. While the flavors hit the front and back, they are lacking across the middle. Not entirely sure why this is, or how else to describe it, but it was really an interesting experience to talk through.

Overall, despite the oddity on the palate, the hopping and overall taste of this beer was quite nice. My buddy declared he had beer envy after tasting it, and this while he was drinking a Zombie Dust. That should be considered high praise. I ended up making the trip especially for this beer, drank two snifters, and would have lingered longer had I been able. Looking forward to trying more of TG's stuff.

Serving type: on-tap

01-31-2013 13:15:38 | More by BarrytheBear