Glassware: Poured into a schooner glass.
Appearance: Pours a hazy pale yellow with a foamy 10-15mm white head that slowly fades over a minute, leaving just a sudsy rim around the glass. Solid carbonation here. Looks a touch thin at the bottom of the glass. Patchy lacing down the glass here and there.
Aroma: Definate wine hop aromas, grapes, lemon, crackers, and mild caramels. Traces of spice.
Flavour: Exactly what you expect from a NEIPA..curtailed bitterness with upfront smoothness. The juice from the reisling grapes gives it a wine like hit, like Nelson sauvin hops. This is the dominant feature and it’s amazing that only 2% of reisling grape juice was used. It’s not too sweet or sickly though..balanced well by a tartness or zing with background fizz on the tonsil. Again only very mild caramels here.
Mouthfeel: Sitting at 6.7% alc vol, it’s not in anyway that noticeable. There is slight velevtyness from the oats. It’s a bit light on the body, but the length retains really well on the palate. Despite initial observation of decent carbonation, it’s mild in the mouth allowing for big gulps. Sticky on the lips after a few gulps.
Overall: It’s a light version of a NEIPA. Nothing overall bold. We have had better NEIPAs from Mikkeller but we like the use of the reisling juice. Maybe a big bigger in the body and this would be even better.