Den Skjeløyde Mann Hopsy Palesy

Hopsy Palesy by Den Skjeløyde Mann, India Pale Ale, 4.5% ABV, ~60 IBU(?).

Well… You might need to work on those labels, bro!

Den Skjeløyde Mann Batch #001 Hopsy Palesy in the glass. Looks good, doesn’t it?

A new brewer on the block! Den Skjeløyde Mann is a huge IPA fan, and when he told me that he was pretty satisfied with his very first attempt at brewing an IPA, I had to have a taste. Not only is this his very first IPA, it’s also his very first homebrew altogether! A big hand for batch #001!

In the glass the beer has a craft beer-ish haze, the colour is light amber. It is topped by an average-sized, pretty creamy, long-lived, off-white head that laces the glass very well.

The aroma is strong and definitely very hoppy. I get delicious notes of fresh hops, lots of slightly overripe tropical fruits and newly cut grass. There is also some caramel in the back, and notes of wet leaves. It’s quite simple, but it works very well.

The flavour is strong and it follows the aroma, with an additional truckload of pine in the finish. The taste is light sweet and the finish is moderate to heavy bitter. The IBU isn’t given on the label, but I’d guess it’s around 60. I got two bottles of this beer, the first one I tasted was a few weeks old, and the second one I had 3 months later. The beer was, not surprisingly, less fresh after 3 months, and it also had developed even more of the wet leaves-like notes. They’re still not ruining, but they make the beer a bit less crisp and inviting.

It’s a dangerously drinkable, more-ish, refreshing and crisp IPA, at least when new. On the other hand, with an ABV of “4-5%” (according to the label) it might not deserve to be called “dangerous”. The body feels fuller than many beers in this ABV range and it’s quite softly carbonated.

Conclusion: a very nice tropical IPA indeed! I’m really looking forward to the next beer from Den Skjeløyde Mann!

Aroma:      7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste:      7/10
Palate:     4/5
Overall:    13/20
Ratebeer score: 3.5/5.0

ClubGonzo’s Easy Ryeder

Easy Ryeder by ClubGonzo, Specialty Grain, 7.2% ABV, 29.4 IBU.

ClubGonzo’s Easy Ryeder, Batch no. 38.

This lively carbonated beer looks good! (have you ever seen a beer that doesn’t look good in a TeKu?)

Another beer from The Master of Puns! It pours a cloudy, medium orange body with a large, off-white head that is pretty frothy, almost a bit fizzy. It still stays big for a very long time, and it even manages to leave some remnants on the glass. It never shrinks beyond a healthy layer.

The aroma is hoppy, malty, spicy and rather strong. It’s also pretty fruity, with notes of peach and mango. Finally I get some saison-ish yeasty notes.

Strong flavour of sweet generic fruits with faint hints of peach and mango. The spices are evident, although I can’t pinpoint any particular spice, so let’s take the easy way out and call the spicy feel “rye”. It’s actually a bit herbal as well. I also get notes that remind me vaguely funky saison yeast, but I suspect that the spices, herbs and saison yeast are all simply caused by the huge amount of rye. Finally there is a whiff of honey and alcohol in the back. The taste is light to moderate sweet and the long-lasting finish is light to moderate bitter.

It’s smooth on the palate, quite dry, mid-bodied and it has a lively carbonation.

Conclusion: Nice and easy-to-drink beer without other flaws than being no more than “nice”. But nice is good.

Aroma:      6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste:      7/10
Palate:     4/5
Overall:    12/20
Ratebeer score: 3.3/5.0