King Julius - Tree House Brewing Company

rudzud

Massachusetts

4.8/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Beaten by JLindros. Been a loooong time for that. Seeing his review I am even more excited to try this beer.

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice hazy golden orange juice hue. Really looks like a murky glass of orange juice atop which sat a nice creamy two finger head. It looks outstanding, however, the head fades rather quickly into a thin soapy blanket with ALOT less side lacing that I was expecting from the get go. Still great, but disappointing based off of that initial creamy head impression.

S - Now, I am not going to be as whimsical as JLindros in my review of the nose. I will say he is spot on with that aroma. It bursts out tropical fruits, just oozing out with mango and grapefruit. Some inviting tangerine along with juicy hops. All of this drowns out the malts quite pleasantly.

T - Yeaaah. This is pretty fucking good. Tons of hop oils here, but that takes a back burner to the flavour explosion going on in my mouth. Enormous mango here. Like those delicious Chinese mango gummy candies. Some light resin and faint pith, tangerine and grapefruit rind. There is some light bitterness (grapefruit) but the finish, the finish is a long lingering mango. Supernatural here.

M - I dont fathom how JLindros did not give this a 5. Sometimes his logic is most illogical. Medium bodied, light but faintly crisp carbonation. 8.3%? Yah, you fooled me. I've had cartons of orange juice (from concentrate) that tasted like they had more alcohol in it than this mouthfeel does. Absurd. EDIT: As this beer warms, some of the booze comes out just a tad. Wish I could go 4.75 but unfortunately cannot.

O - Overall this was an incredible beer. Really wish I did not have to work the days when they're brewery is open so I could go there in person and shake Nate's hand for this and Julius. Enjoy this breweries offerings while you can. Soon enough they WILL explode on the scene.

Serving type: growler

12-09-2012 02:19:14 | More by rudzud

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.69/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pours into my Hill farmstead stem tulip with a nice creamy but lighter head that hits about 1/2 finger, with some decent sticky lacing... as you mentioned Nate, the lacing on the glass right off the tap was much nicer, but that doesn't stop the awesomness of the beer itself from shining through. Speaking of shining, the beer is not shiny at all, a murky hazy tangerine slightly coppery colored beer.

Nose is amazing! The transcending aroma wafted out as soon as I popped the swing top, and when I poured it I almost dropped the bottle as I was too busy dreaming of the tropical fruits dancing into my brain. This sucker is beaming with tropical fruit and citrus, loaded with passion fruit, mango, a big waft of exploding grapefruit juice packets, tangerine, light orange rind, resins and lots of fresh hop goodness. Under that a light malty aroma tries it's best to balance the hops, to little avail. As I'm burying my nose in it for minutes at a time (literally), and breathing deep, a light booze touch wafts out like an alcohol infused grapefruit.

Taste comes in... I can feel the weight of the beer and oily hop layer before my taste buds come back down to earth from the tropical fruit explosion. Holy shi*t mango! Memories come flying back of chewing on the pit from a mango trying to get that last bit of great mangoness off of it. There is also again some passion fruit, light resins, tangerine, a bit of citrus, and more fresh grapefruit explosions. I can barely put it down long enough to type a sentence. A nice malty base in there, very little malt flavor, but a nice balancing mild sweetness and fluffy feel, it has some weight to it, but no detectable booze. bitterness comes out nicely but not over explosive, or even really strong, its more of an after thought, like the light grapefruit rind bitterness when you're chewing on a fresh grapefruit. Finish is even more grapefruit as the mango fades a bit, a bit of papaya comes out as well, more tangerine and clementine, fairly dry, light lingering bitterness.

Mouth is med to fuller bodied but fluffy and soft, little oily, and quite nice fluffy carbonation.

Overall gmmrrguguumm.... that's the sound my brain is making trying to put words into how awesome this beer is. Easily top 5 DIPAs I've EVER HAD! So much fresh tropical fruit, literally like mango and grapefruit juice, booze is nowwhere to be seen except the nice weight of the body, light hop oil feel, juicy, delicious, drinkable, well balanced, just so friggen good!

Serving type: growler

12-09-2012 01:31:03 | More by jlindros