Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Green Flash Brewing Hop Head Beer Review




Green Flash Brewing Hop Head Beer Review


by Microbrew Review

Tonight the wife wanted to go to bingo. Being a smart negotiator, I happily agreed to hang out at home with the kids while she went off to gamble, but only if she picked me up a few microbrews to sample and review. Okay, she'd have gone anyway whether I wanted her to or not, but she complied and I've got 4 new beers in the fridge to try out. The first I picked out was a microbrew from Green Flash Brewing Company called "Hop Head".

Hop Head is a Red India Pale Ale brewed by San Diego's famous microbrewery Green Flash Brewing. I've had at least one beer from Green Flash that I liked before so I was anxious to try Hop Head Red IPA to say the least.

Pouring the ale into my Dogfish Head pub glass, this beer poured a rich and thick looking ruby red. Very clear and fairly good level of carbonation with bubbles small yet somewhat plentiful.

Holy head !! The foamy head on this beer rose a good 3 1/2 fingers tall and stuck around a good 4-5 minutes before subsiding to a 1/4" head that never really disappeared throughout my sampling session.

The beer aroma was wonderfully strong and hoppy. Very piney with a background hint of sour fruit, not grapefruit but strangely more like a blueberry if you can believe that. Kinda odd but interesting.

Sipping the first few slugs, this microbrew is a mouthful. Thick, rich and hearty came to mind. Although it's a beer from California, I got the impression of this being a beer that could stand up to a tough, cold northeastern winter's night, kind of like a good thick beef stew. It was chewy like a meal but finished surprisingly crisp and clean with a fresh piney aftertaste leaving me want another sip quickly. So I went ahead and took another...and another. Mmmmmm. This is a good beer!

All the way down through the entire 12 ounces of ale, my glass was pasted with a thick spiderweb of foamy lace, very impressive in my opinion. It reminded me of that one beer commercial where you can see where the beer is and where it was and where it'll be next, like tree growth rings (only these were beer death rings as it was consumed).

Overall, I'm going to give Green Flash Brewing Hop Head Red India Pale Ale a 7.5 out of 10.00 possible stars as my rating. I have always enjoyed the IPA family of microbrews and craft beers and this ale did not disappoint me in the least. I'd love to have a chance someday to try this fresh on tap at the brewery itself as I imagine it would lend to an even representation of the beer.

If you live in California or out West anywhere, there's no reason you shouldn't at least try this beer offering from Green Flash and if you're anywhere else in the country and find this microbrew in your local bottleshop or on tap at the pub, give it a try and I can almost guarantee you won't be sorry.

Oh, by the way, Green Flash Hop Head clocks in at 6% alcohol by volume. Not too over the top and just reasonable enough to enjoy two or three of these IPA beauties responsibly and reasonably. This microbrew is worth it and I'll be picking it up again if I have the chance.

Are you a beer lover? Did you enjoy reading this microbrew beer review? If you love beer and craft beers & microbrews in particular, you'll find many more craft beer reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related meanderings at the
===>beer review blog
or =====>Craft Beer Reviews.

Enjoy, and always remember to drink responsibly!







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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This one sounds good, gonna have to give it a try. Hope I can find it out here in NM.

2:28 PM  

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