Boulder Bonanza!

Boulder is one of those brews that is always there staring at you from the build your own six pack shelf.  There are three of them to choose from but it feels like they shouldn’t be split up, they should stay together.  But that’s half the space in my six pack.  Do I want to make that sort of commitment?  I held off on the long term commitment for as long as I could but eventually had to give in.  Would this be a match made in heaven or a marriage in hell?

First to the party was Hazed and Infused.  It’s a 4.85% ABV ale dry hopped with Centennial and Crystal hops.  The brew pours with a giant mountain of head erupting from the glass.  The nose emits sour grapefruit notes with hints of grassy aroma.  The mouthfeel was somewhat thin but could be expected from the relatively low ABV.  The star of this brew was the very good hop character exhibited through out the taste.  The hop character had complexity with notes ranging from a somewhat minty flavor that leads into grassy/earthy notes.  And if that is not complex enough there are hints of lemon on the finish.  It is reminiscent of an IPA with a lower ABV and lower bitterness so the nuances of the hop character can shine.  The malt character was very good and played around in the background.  This brew was a pleasant surprise and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well we’re off to a good start can Boulder hold it down?  Next is Flashback India Brown Ale weighing in at 6.8% ABV.  I was excited about trying an India Brown Ale so expectations were high.  As promised in the name, it poured a medium brown color with a subtle head.  The nose is reminiscent of a stout with notes of roast and chocolate.  This brew like the Hazed and Infused had a somewhat thin mouthfeel.  There is an initial sensation of slight bitterness that lasts into the finish.  The roasty character initially promised by the aroma comes up short in the taste.  Hop character is non existent and the roasty character is only present in the aftertaste.  With that being said there is not much special with this brew.   

It’s going down hill, can the Mojo crank up the mojo?  Mojo is Boulder’s IPA rated at 6.8% ABV.  The brew poured with a small head that recedes fairly quickly.  The aroma offers up a bit of a mystery shaggy.  There’s a bit of sour grapefruit or is that sour wheat?  Wait, sour wheat?  That doesn’t seem right but being the fearless beer Yoda in training that I am I preceded.  Yep it’s weird.  The weird sour/bitter malt smell is also a prominent taste characteristic.  I’m not sure if this sour/bitter character is from the malt or from hop bitterness. This is a very different brew and it is not necessarily in a good way.  That taste…it reminds me of something.  What is it?  Oh yeah it tastes like what wet grain smells like when you forget about it and it goes rancid.  Yep that’s not a good thing.  I’m not sure if this was a bad batch but this particular bottle of beer was horrible. 

Cheers!