Item Nine - Brash Brewing Company

ADZA

Australia

3.98/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours a golden honey hue with a creamy two finger head and lacing everywhere,the smell is strong candied citrus,piney hops,tangerine,paw paw and fruit tingles,the mouthfeel is full bodied,creamy with moderate carbonation and the taste is a tropical explosion with hints of paw paw,pineapple,candy,passionfruit,kiwi fruit and finished with a piney hop bubblegum bitterness and overall it's definitely a hop bomb where the wheat plays second fiddle but is still noticeable due to the creamy mouthfeel and yeah if not for the price could drink quite abit of cheers.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 10:21:41 | More by ADZA

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.45/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Served in a snifter at Firkin.

What better way to start off a birthday dinner at Firkin than with a Brash beer? This stuff pours a hazy orange topped by a finger of off-white foam. The nose comprises earthy greens up front (with a healthy amount of leek in there), some vague citrus beneath, and some dusty toffee throughout the background. The taste holds notes of tangelo zest, orange rind, sharp greens along the back edge, and a sweeter bit of toffee than before. The body is a straight medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a drying finish. Overall, a solid wheat IPA, nothing earth-shattering, but certainly an interesting and generally enjoyable little brew.

Serving type: on-tap

05-16-2013 06:27:30 | More by TMoney2591

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.85/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a nice light and smaller creamy head that fades fairly quickly but leaves a nice sticky lacing, mostly clear slight hazed little coppery honey orange color.

Nose big sweet golden malts, toasty and a little grainy, some yeasty booze ester aromas, little golden apple pear, fruity honey, then into big candy aromas, toffee, caramel apple, candy syrup, and faint estery booze. Touch of earthy candy hops.

Taste stats with big sweet malts again, sweeteners right out, caramel, toffee, little nutty, etc. Then fruity esters, apple and pear, candy apple, faint honey again, etc, with some golden malts and light toasty. Then big hops, Tom's of bitterness, candied orange peel, lots of earthy chewy hops and a little spicy grassy. Booze comes in with the esters some warming and little tingly. Touch of black tea and spices probably from the yeast. Finish is quite bitter, very bitter, big sweet candy malt lingering, more toffee and caramel apple.

Mouth is med to fuller bod, some warming and tingly booze, decent carb.

Overall a decent beer, nice big hop bitterness, nice big malty sweetness, some esters, warming booze, a nice big beer with plenty of flavor.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 02:39:40 | More by jlindros

mactrail

California

3.94/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Beautiful golden amber color in the New Belgium snifter. Loads of lacing in the glass. Tantalizing aroma of fruity hops.

I'm not sure how the wheat figures in the flavors, but there is a pleasing sharpness along with plenty of malt. Warm and slightly sweet, but tangy and seriously bitter. There is a huge blast of hops that totally take over for an initial rush, then let the malt taste come through. Enormous flavors of melon, mango, and dried pineapple with a long trip down the piney woods. This is sharp and crisp on the tongue, but the mouthfeel is mellow and rich.

My only problem with this is that it's a little too bitter. Otherwise it's strange and interesting and if you're a hop fanatic you might just love it. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2013 05:23:00 | More by mactrail

Zorro

California

3.25/5  rDev -16%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.75

Slightly chill hazed orange-amber colored beer with a small white colored head. The color is solidly in the "IPA Orange" spectrum.

Scent is strong tropical fruit with a bit of earth and mint. Aromatic pine and oranges with passion fruit. Earthy scent like cut mushroom. Quite an aromatic ale.

Starts out woody and savory, taste buds have to adapt. Bitter and woody, strong tea flavors. Bitter orange and caramel, this isn't balanced. Overly bitter.

Mouthfeel is good.

Overall Smells great taste, not so much.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2013 06:09:48 | More by Zorro

Flounder57

Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle was poured into a large Duvel snifter.

Appearance: This beer poured a huge white head that has reduced to a thin layer and left some nice lacing on the glass. It is a pale orange color with great clarity and visions of bubbles coming up through the glass.

Smell: Very clean and crisp nose. Bready, caramel, tropical citrus, tangerine, nectarine, orange, and possibly some pine.

Taste: Danky and resiny pine that lingers nicely around and has a subtle tingly bitterness in the back of the mouth. Sweet caramel and bready malts, all followed by hop citrus heaven. Very tasty IPA.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium carbonation, tingly bitterness, medium to full bodied, and a little chewy.

Overall: This beer is more like a double instead of a single IPA. Very drinkable and the bitterness isn't a killer either. Will look for more of this in the future.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2013 03:53:33 | More by Flounder57

ichorNet

Massachusetts

4.11/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Appearance: Homogeneous golden/rusty orange with an easygoing, resilient head and deep, compact surface bubbles. Lacing is pretty good but unspectacular

Scent: Spicy, juicy and fresh with pale and wheat malt eventually stealing the show from the fruity scent; some musty, dank ale yeast present

Taste: Chewy malt body that jives well with spicy, dry, fruity and earthy hops entangled with white pepper, grapefruit, lemon rind and white wheat

Mouthfeel: Smooth with fast-acting carbonation that nevertheless carries the flavors over the palate. Medium-heavy body with a lot going on

Drinkability: High thanks to a large percentage of wheat malt; the carbonation melts early and allows the palate to soak up a lot of flavor at 9% ABV

Overall: This is a very interesting and flavorful "white IPA"; though I think the style is a bit vapid in scope, it can clearly be done both artfully and tastefully, as this proves. I'm still not sure this is a legitimate style, but this beer gives some credence to its existence and that is fairly high praise.

Read full review @ http://blogs.lowellsun.com/beer/2012/12/06/brash-item/

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2013 06:53:29 | More by ichorNet

maximum12

Minnesota

2.45/5  rDev -36.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Wandering around Princeton's without purpose last week & saw this lonely bottle. What the hell is it? No description, style, nothing. OK. I'll bite. 22 oz. bottle split with my wife.

Pour is light yellow on the border of orange. The nose is...different. Tons of grapefruit & rich, sweet malt are at war over the surface of the beer, with an underlay of wheaty earthiness. Huh.

Item Nine is definitely having an identity crisis, & not of the cute, sit-com variety. The dirty wheat comes strongly to the fore & reminds me of raking the backyard too late in the autumn, after the leaves are nice & wet. Bright grapefruit clashes like a cymbal with the wheat. Sweetness & bitterness vie in the after-image. Far too thick & cloying to drink much, 11 ounces is going to be close to a full meal.

Hoping for a unique twist, & instead, this is a hot mess. Not well integrated, heavy, syrupy. Overall not a pleasing experience, & one I'll avoid in the future. Not going to be able to finish it. Disappointing.

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2013 03:34:44 | More by maximum12

Andrew61923

Connecticut

3.7/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Picked up from Julio's last night for $8.99. Pretty excited to see it as my few experiences with Brash have been positive. Poured into Portsmouth Brewery tulip.

A: Pours a cloudy orange with a finger's worth of eggshell head. Pretty impressive start.

S: A lot of tropical fruit with some of the bubblegum that has been mentioned before. Yeast establishes its presence when I swirl the glass a little bit. Interesting, but makes sense given the hybrid nature of this brew. I definitely like the hop character I'm picking up though.

T: A lot of sweetness up front and the grapefruit bitterness from the hops really takes over from there. There is still more hop presence in the nose than on the tongue, which is a bit disappointing. My palette is a bit confused right now.

M: The hops really dry out the palette, so having water nearby is recommended. That being said, for a 9% brew, the alcohol is pretty well hidden. Probably should have split this with someone else instead of handling the 22 myself, but I'll survive.

O: Glad I got the chance to try it, but probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy again. The price point is a bit steep, and there are too many good IPAs readily available that I know I would like more.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 00:56:16 | More by Andrew61923

Dope

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

No date that I could find but this is a very new beer. Couple weeks old at most.

A: Pours a mostly clear medium amber. Big fluffy beige head. Fades slowly, leaving nice fluffy tufts of lacing behind.

S: Bananas immediately, interesting. Lots of grapefruit and a bit of pine. Mild tropical fruit, mango and apricot mainly it seems. Maybe even a little melon? I swear I even get marmalade. Wheaty malt, interesting.

T: Lots and lots of grapefruit up front with pine and tropical fruit. Interesting, no caramel malt, it's wheaty - a sweet sort of bready wheat. Bitter resin and grapefruit in the finish with hints of banana in the lingering aftertaste.

M: Medium bodied, a little thick but not overly so. Drying on the back end from all the hop oil.

O: Very interesting IPA. Kinda like a hoppy IPA mixed with a hefe or something. Makes it a bit smoother and unique but otherwise it's 90% normal IPA with big up front hops.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2012 04:21:37 | More by Dope

ThickNStout

Georgia

4.23/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bottle from Hop City (Atlanta, GA). 8.99. Bottled 10/26/12. Served in a Soutern Tier snifter.

Pours bright clear amber/ gold with two fingers pale head. A good bit of lace all the way down the glass.

Smells like tropical fruit hops and candy sugar. A sweet and inviting IPA aroma.

Taste is a unique blend of bitter grapefruity hops and sugary sweet biscuit. Interesting mixture of hop bitterness and a much different (wheat, I guess) malt sweetness. Alcohol is there but subtle.

Medium body with moderate carbonation. Long sweet but hoppy bitter finish.

A unique IPA-ish offering. I don't think Brash quite knows what to call it either but it's good. Maybe an imperial wheat IPA? If you're looking for a tasty unique twist on hops, check out Item Nine Ale.

Serving type: bottle

11-27-2012 03:26:25 | More by ThickNStout

WanderingFool

Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Item Nine pours a clear amber with a moderate sized creamy head on top. As the foam fades away it leaves behind a lovely coating of lace.

The aroma has notes of orange citrus, lemon rind and bready malt. Once poured the hops are strong, but they fade fast.

Each sip of this medium bodied beer is smooth, somewhat chewy with light to moderate carbonation. The flavor is well balanced between orange and lemon citrus and sweet malt. There's a touch of bubblegum on the sweet side and a little peppery spice at the end. It finishes bitter with lingering pepper and citrus.

An IPA fermented with a hefeweizen yeast. I think it's an interesting concept, but I'm not getting a lot of character from the yeast. Seems like a typical double IPA to me. It's well balanced and easy to drink for 9% abv.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2012 22:37:08 | More by WanderingFool