Northern OBX Brewing Penny’s Hill IPA
This can of Northern Outer Banks Brewing Penny’s Hill was picked up while on vacation back in June (and enjoyed shortly after arriving back at HQ). The IPA (6% ABV, 46 IBU) didn’t have a packaging or “best by” date printed on it, but it did present traits that made me think the brew had been on shelves a bit too long. For a beer that is brewed with all Cascade hops, it doesn’t quite have the profile expected.
Bready malt and caramel provide a solid base for soft pine and grapefruit. The crisp mouthfeel helps accentuate a hop bite that feels much more assertive than the documented IBU, but that’s not really a problem. I had initially though the beer to be old, but the hop profile don’t really come across faded as much as they do more subdued. It’s just not that dynamic of a beer. The can states it’s brewed with honey, which may add some dryness late in the finish, but doesn’t really offer much else flavor-wise.
I brought home a bunch of beer from OBX. This can of Penny’s Hill wasn’t my favorite. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly didn’t offer much in terms of dynamic flavors which could have been due to the age of the can. Several of the products I purchased were a bit past their prime so keep that in mind when reading this review.