Local beer #2 in my celebration of American Craft Beer Week. And when I say local, I’m talking regionally brewed.
New Glarus is a fantastic little brewery out in, well, New Glarus, Wisconsin, and most of their beers get a lot of rating respect on sites like Beer Advocate and RateBeer. I’ve had several of their offerings, including Spotted Cow, Unplugged Iced Barleywine, and Edel Pils. And their Hop Hearty IPA is right in line with the rest, very well-crafted and exceedingly delicious.
Aroma is filled with a boat load of piney hops — possibly Simcoe, Warrior and Amarillo — with a very pleasing caramel backdrop from the malt. They also dry hop with Cascade and East Kent Goldings, kicking up the hoppy nose. Beautiful deep amber coloring, and a big fluffy head that leaves sticky webs of hop resin and lacing on the glass. The taste is very nice, a blend of caramel and some citrus. A formidable bitterness after the caramel fades, but not overpowering, giving way to small hints of alcohol heat in the finish from the 6% ABV.
My overall impression is that this is a very nice, balanced beer. Not one of the masterpieces in the IPA world, like Russian River’s Pliny the Elder or even Dogfish Head 60 Minute. But Hop Hearty definitely holds its own, and really reminded me of Oskar Blues Gordon, an ultra-hoppy IPA brimming over with aromatic hops and bready malt.
Rating: B+
May 13, 2009 at 8:34 am
Did this make your urine stink? It did for me. Which I enjoy, I like asparagus too.
May 13, 2009 at 9:10 am
Would you guys be down for trades for New Glarus? I really want to try all their stuff. Especially their beers in the bigger bottles.
May 13, 2009 at 10:19 am
No problem Dave, shoot me an email and we can figure it out.
May 13, 2009 at 11:43 am
Thanks for the reminder, I often forget about the New Glarus stuff and how relatively close it’s available. This is some dang tasty stuff indeed.
May 13, 2009 at 12:57 pm
One of my top 5 breweries. Everything they make is great, nothing over the top necessarily, but great and well crafted. I need to revisit the Hop Hearty next time I head to Wisconsin.
May 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I agree Eric, I’m consistently impressed with their stuff. Just wish I didn’t have to drive to Hudson to get it!
Have you had their Organic Revolution?
May 14, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Everything they brew is solid to excellent. NG is also a model for how to beat the BMC stranglehold. We occasionally go to Northern Wisconsin during the summer and rent a cabin. It used to be really difficult to find much decent beer, everything was Miller Lite and Leinie’s. Now, when we go, you can find Spotted Cow taking tap handles away from Miller at even small, local bars around the state. Even though it’s a pretty tame beer, it’s a nice example of an easy drinking cream ale. Also, Spotted Cow has gotten people to try other NG beers like Fat Squirrel and Staghorn, which you can also find on tap.
All of this has paved the way for some pretty cool brewpubs, small breweries, and beer bars scattered across the state. When people hassle NG for taking up too much tank space making their more mainstream beers, they need to realize that average consumers buying their standard offerings is what allows NG to take risks and expand the brewery. Without Spotted Cow it’s difficult to have their Unplugged series.
May 14, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Totally agree forbiddendonut. Without Furious, Surly wouldn’t be able to make Darkness. It’s those core beers that help keep the lights on.
May 14, 2009 at 5:50 pm
[...] Organic Revolution sitting in my fridge and remembering a comment I had read earlier that day on The Captain’s Chair post about Hop Hearty IPA I decided it was time to see what a organic beer from New Glarus would be [...]