Aug 4, 2015

DuClaw Hop Continuum #2

I apparently missed out on DuClaw’s Hop Continuum #1 — Blood Orange Gypsy IPA — when it was out in the wild. I had heard pretty decent things about it from friends, so when the second release in the “Continuum” line was released I made sure to keep an eye out for a bottle or two. The fact that it was brewed in the style of my arch nemesis, the red ale, had not gone unnoticed.

I’m not a big fan of red ales, but have found that if the brewer throws enough hops at their take on the style, i’m more apt to enjoy. So when I noticed that DuClaw has used solely Mosaic hops in the making of Hop Continuum #2, I decided to give it a shot.

Appearance

The beer pours a dark garnet in color with a frothy cap of beige foam.

DuClaw Hop Continuum #2 phto

Aroma

A strong red ale character wafts from the surface with loads of pine, grapefruit and grassy notes. The beer smells wildly intriguing.

Taste

Peaty, bready malt arrives first with a soft roast and caramel. Pine resin, grapefruit and grass quickly follow with a surge of hope character. The combination of all those flavors nearly at once sends the tastebuds scattering around like mad in every attempt to keep up. There’s a moderate-to-strong hop bitterness and a mild sweetness that both linger for a bit in the lasting finish.

Overall

Hop Continuum #2 reminded me a great deal of Green Flash’s Hop Head Red, but not quite as heavy on the hop end of things. That said, this wasn’t a terrible red ale. It’s got a good bit of hop character flowing in its rusty depths — enough so, that I could probably got for a bottle of it again in the future.

Rating: 3.5/5

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