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It’s about time.  I’m finally done with the Sam Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed pack.  It will be nice to finally move on to reviewing a beer that isn’t an IPA from Boston Beer for a little while.  It’s been fun.  Like I said in the beginning this is a good way to get to know the characteristics of each individual hope style.  But a little tiresome over a week period to put on the blog.

Well let’s jump right in with the final one.  This is the Simcoe variety.  This is a hop that I typically like.  It’s used pretty widely in bigger craft breweries already.

I pour one last time into my nonic pint and, surprise, it’s a clear orange color with a frothy off white head.  The head sticks around for a bit but doesn’t really stick to the glass all that much.

The nose is pretty resiny.  Fresh hop smell with hints of citrus.  You get a decent amount of malt backing in the aroma as well.

The taste is really a lot of the same.  Super fresh hop taste that is both resiny and citrusy.  It balances out with some caramel notes and has a crisp bitter finish.  But not one that lingers around for awhile.

In the end I’m going to say that this is my favorite of the 5 single hop varieties in the pack.  It’s the most well rounded one.  And the one that tastes the best alone compared to the other varieties.

And of course some of these hops are used more for say the aroma over the taste in the normal Latitude 48 so they may not transfer well to being by themselves.  And that’s completely understandable.

Again I enjoyed doing this pack but am glad it’s over.  On to something new, probably something darker too.

Grade - B+

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Ah the joys of being a beer blogger.  Sometimes life just gets in the way of trying to accomplish what you want to do.  Case in point is trying to finish off the review of the Sam Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed pack last week.  Friday morning I was just exhausted and didn’t feel the urge to write up a review.  Saturday I was pretty busy all day.  So I just pushed it back to the start of this week.

Here is the next to last one in the series and it’s Hallertau Mittelfrueh.  This hop is probably Boston Beer’s most commonly used beer.  It is a noble hop that they seem to be huge fans of.  I too really like this variety.  Let’s see how it stands in a beer by itself.

As is becoming common for this series I use my nonic pint glass.  It like all the others pours a very clear orange color.  A good sized white head sits atop the beer and leaves a good amount of lacing as it subsides.

The aroma has a bunch of citrus hop aroma mixed with grassy, earthy aromas as well.  Maybe a very slight malt smell but not a lot.

The taste is actually pretty complex.  It’s hoppy with hints of citrus.  It’s grainy.  And it has a biscuit and malt backing to it.  It is also quite floral in taste as well.  The bitterness of the hops and the flower like taste linger around quite a bit after the taste.

Well this is definitely the most complex tasting out of the group so far.  It has a lot of flavor to it but the floral like aftertaste is a bit annoying.  I wouldn’t mind it if it were more citrus in nature but the slight taste of dandelions is not one I particularly like just lingering around in my mouth.

Well that is now 4 down and 1 to go on the Deconstructed pack.  I’ll be back tomorrow for the review of the final one, Simcoe.  Hope you don’t suffer too much from the Mondays.

Grade - B-

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So yesterday turned out to not be so bad.  A work around in order to remote to servers was done and all went well.  But today internet is still out at the office so again I’m working from home.  I’ve always dug when I work from home.  Some people say that the lose of human interaction can take it’s toll on people but I have never found that as such.

But for today’s review I have another in the Deconstructed series.  Today we go with Ahtanum.  It’s a hop variety that I don’t know an awful lot about but I have heard of it before as opposed to Zeus which I talked about before.

I pour it into my nonic pint glass and it arrives a lot like the others with a clear orange color.  There a good sized white head on top but it fades fast and leaves a small amount of lacing.

I get a good amount of orange in the nose along with some pine for the hop profile.  There is a bit of caramel in there to balance it out but it’s not super present.

The taste has a bitter orange peel taste upfront before it turns piney.  There is a biscuit and caramel like presence in the back before it goes bitter again in the aftertaste.

I’ve heard that this hop is used predominately in dry hopping of beers and I can absolutely get that from the taste.  A lot of bitter tastes to it.  But I really enjoyed it.  This is probably my favorite of the ones I’ve had so far.

So that’s 3 down and 2 to go on the Latitude 48 Deconstructed pack.  Tomorrow I’ll bring you the Hallertau Mittelfrueh and then Saturday wrap things up with Simcoe.  Hope you have a good Thursday!

Grade - B+