Fuzzy Baby Ducks IPA - New England Brewing Co.

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

4.41/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to wittyname again! Growler to pint.

Pours a very hazy soap-amber color with a humble topper of white foam. It almost looks a little soapy. However, it does look damn refreshing!

I smell pitted fruits, citrus, and floral hops. Fresh apricot, dried mango, tangerine, and guava. All of this touched by a rather delicate ale yeast that sweetens the aroma with the smell of oily nut flesh. Malts are candid and quite pale. Some sugar cookie mixed in here. Delectable.

Nice acidic twang of hoppy bitterness upfront, but it cleans up quick and finishes with tropical fruits and attenuated citrus. Guava, tangerine, lemon zest, and papaya make up the fruitiness. Floral notes bounce around. Much drier than the aroma would let on. Very clean and zippy. Absolutely refreshing, too. Super-smooth body accented by some sparkling side-mouth effervescence. Sugar cookie from the nose turned into wine cracker in the flavor. Very pale malts with very little wort sugar to spare. Implied sweetness comes from the fruity hops. Dreamably drinkable. A one-after-another kind of beer.

This is a fantastic IPA. So happy to have been gifted a full growler of this stuff to enjoy during a trying work week. Cheers!

Serving type: growler

02-08-2013 03:45:58 | More by thecheapies

Emkehr

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -19.4%

05-17-2013 17:03:48 | More by Emkehr

bigedct

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev -3.2%

05-08-2013 02:31:48 | More by bigedct

LoveMyIPA

Connecticut

4.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-07-2013 12:50:28 | More by LoveMyIPA

Saltee

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev -3.2%

04-12-2013 14:55:30 | More by Saltee

ManMoosePig

Connecticut

5/5  rDev +7.5%

04-11-2013 01:05:16 | More by ManMoosePig

dcguitar

Connecticut

4.75/5  rDev +2.2%

04-04-2013 19:37:49 | More by dcguitar

Bizoneill

Connecticut

5/5  rDev +7.5%

03-26-2013 17:03:53 | More by Bizoneill

Quackus

New York

4.25/5  rDev -8.6%

03-12-2013 15:14:07 | More by Quackus

coffygrinder

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +2.2%

03-07-2013 03:06:03 | More by coffygrinder

Hautacam

Connecticut

4.96/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5

Cloudy golden , small head , which lasts throughout.
The smell of the Citra knocks me out! Fantastic.
The flavor , much like the smell is incredibly citrusy , grapefruit rind, lemony, grassy with just enough malt for the hops to launch off. I don't want to put the glass down.... I want to inhale whenever I'm not sipping. Mouthfeel medium-low , kind of exactly right with perfect carbonation.
Drinkability is off the charts. When this went on tap at my local place, I was there three nights in a row until it kicked.
They now refer to me as the Fuzzy Baby Duck Guy.
Nicely done , NEB !

Serving type: on-tap

02-18-2013 01:26:45 | More by Hautacam

wesley14

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev -3.2%

02-14-2013 02:02:23 | More by wesley14

jherz

Connecticut

4.75/5  rDev +2.2%

02-13-2013 18:42:08 | More by jherz

Donsmitty

Connecticut

5/5  rDev +7.5%

02-10-2013 19:56:55 | More by Donsmitty

Trevdawg

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev -3.2%

02-07-2013 17:31:12 | More by Trevdawg

tehzachatak

Massachusetts

4.78/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Growler filled Saturday AM.

A - Vibrantly orange-amber hazy body with a finger of off-white head. Leaves a gigantic amount of lacing all over the glass. Maybe a little more body in the head would have been nice, but I probably poured this a little cold too.

S - Pine to begin, immediately into guava/mango/stonefruit. Orange/lemon as it opens up. Tiny bit of the cat pee-ish Nelson Sauvin- esque aromas/weed. Insane. I could just sit here and smell this for days.

T - Resiny pine makes my mouth feel fuzzy right away. Not hard to see where this name came from. Literally feels like the enamel's being stripped off my teeth. Some more classically hoppy flavors (grapefruit/etc), but then a huge hit of the tropical flavors. Leaves an awesome mango flavor in my mouth. Also insane.

M - Fairly light but leaves a really nice slick feeling in the mouth. I would like it a little more carbonated, but I think my growler may have just lost a little pressure - when I tried this at the brewery on tap, it was more carbed. Incredibly sessionable. No ashiness or cloying sweetness left behind at all. Just wonderful tropical hops.

O - Susan might be better. Might. Would need to try them side by side. Other than that, never had a "regular" IPA that even touches this. Go now.

Serving type: growler

02-04-2013 02:29:54 | More by tehzachatak

axeman9182

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -8.6%

02-03-2013 23:55:08 | More by axeman9182

CHADMC3

Connecticut

4.4/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a hazy golden to orange body with straw colored hues beneath the foamy, pure white head, resembling a fuzzy baby duck.

What an amazing nose! Tons of hops, pine, floral, and citrus. The pine and woodnotes are tremendous with grass and possibly peaches, and maybe even apricot.

The flavor is equally awesome with puckering and tangy hops resembling sweet citrus, as well as fresh cut wood with more pine and grass. There is actually a hint of faint bready malt here as well.

Lighter to medium in body with a fair amount of carbonation and a just plain awesome sticky, pungent, hoppy finish.

Wow, is this beer good. Awesome stuff. Great flavors and aroma, so fresh and so clean.

Serving type: growler

02-03-2013 02:09:16 | More by CHADMC3

drinker36

Connecticut

4.41/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Being an IPA addict and after having read the reviews I drove about an hour to the brewery and picked up a few growlers. Shocked and impressed that NEBco fills a 64oz growler of this stuff for $10. Bravo. And feel free to charge me $15-$18 next time.

Bullet points:

This beer has one of the best smells of any of the ipa's i've tried.

It looks awesome too - golden with lacy, white head.

Tastes good, light and refreshing... and with a mid range abv, it's close to a sessionable beer. It's a little more bitter than I would like, but balanced as other reviewers have said.

Final Judgement:

Fuzzy Baby Ducks is a great IPA. You'd be a quack not to try it if given the chance, but don't "fly" too far south or north to get some... instead buy some of their canned DIPA (Gahndi Bot) or do a trade. It's as good or better. And we can always hope they can or bottle this stuff because the label would be top 10.

Serving type: growler

02-03-2013 01:22:51 | More by drinker36

gamanley

Connecticut

5/5  rDev +7.5%

02-02-2013 20:38:49 | More by gamanley

CTJman

Connecticut

5/5  rDev +7.5%

02-02-2013 05:15:51 | More by CTJman

juliusseizure

New York

4.5/5  rDev -3.2%

02-01-2013 23:52:46 | More by juliusseizure

raythealeman

Connecticut

4.75/5  rDev +2.2%

01-31-2013 00:34:01 | More by raythealeman

PeteRiz

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev -8.6%

01-25-2013 14:45:40 | More by PeteRiz

FutureOBrew

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev -8.6%

11-26-2012 18:39:16 | More by FutureOBrew