Well, the snow that was forecast yesterday arrived this morning. There isn't much but because the temperature hasn't ventured north of about two degrees all day, what little snow there is has stuck around. While this is a mild annoyance to me, my dog absolutely loves it. Without getting all saccharine about it, watching her having the time of her life in the white shit brings some much needed warmth to my heart.
So, it is with good will and cheer for all creatures that I crack open day eight of the advent calendar - hopefully the contents don't cast a pall over my good mood.
Haze Charmer
Style - DDH Pale Ale
Brewer - Troegs Independent Brewing
Hops - Citra, El Dorado, Mosaic, Lotus
ABV - 5%
The beer
Things are looking good, I mean who doesn't like a double dry hopped pale ale? If you show me someone who says they don't, I will show you a liar. I mean what's not to like? Seriously, some people just like to be contrary, DDH pales are great, your mate who says they don't like them just needs to get over themselves and grow up.
That being said, I am meant to be being objective here, so lets get stuck in. Haze Charmer has a lot of heft to it, by which I mean it is quite dense with a nice touch of viscosity to it - I mean, I'm not talking hop soup here, but even from the pour you can tell this has some cojones. The cojones it has are also really attractive, a real stunner in cojones terms. Haze Charmer settles out into a rich, misty orange that's so opaque it almost seems to be emanating light rather than refracting it.
The cojones don't end there, indeed they are now up my nose, spaffing big old loads of musty resin and overripe tropical fruit notes right up my nostrils and into my brain. I might drop the whole cojones thing now because I'm beginning to disgust myself. Suffice it to say Haze Charmer smells good, promising all sorts of naughtiness and grotty pleasures once I slide it into my mouth - seriously what is going on with me today?
Ok, well the cojones have dropped a bit now it's in my mouth. Going by the appearance and scent of this pale alone you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a NEIPA you were handling here, rather than a DDH pale. But while there is plenty of resin on the nose, it isn't carrying through on the tongue to the level I was expecting. That's neither a good nor a bad thing, this is a pale after all so I would be disappointed if it were just a mini west coast IPA, but perhaps it would have been nice to have the resin notes be slightly more prominent. Don't get me wrong, they're in there, but they are much more subtle than I was expecting.
The drinking experience of Haze Charmer is actually quite complex. You get all these big brassy notes on the nose and then the mouth is all delicate perfume. There is some very refreshing tartness in there too which mingles with some nice fruity notes. Everything culminates in a very mild dankness which is slightly savoury and very pleasing.
Troegs claim claim the flavour notes to be:
pineapple - Yes, I can see what they mean, I wouldn't have said it's massive on the pineapple, but the tartness is there.
grapefruit - ditto.
candied peach - I'm not sure about the candied part, but yeah, darn right there's peach going on in there. I knew there was something familiar but couldn't nail it down.
white pine - not a clue.
I guess if my crackpot musings have led me to any conclusion it is that Haze Charmer is a complex beer. It isn't complex in the way I thought it would be, I thought this was going to be big bold flavours jostling each other for dominance, but no. Its complexity lies in the difference between the aroma and the taste - both of which are exceedingly pleasing, but in their own ways.
If that mate of yours still doesn't like pale ale after trying Haze Charmer, they're probably a write off, go find a better mate.
Score - 4.75/5
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