What: White Cap from Hinterland Brewing of Green Bay. The brewery calls it a White India Pale Ale; a mash-up of an American IPA and a Belgian Witbier.Where: Festival Foods in Oshkosh, where they sell 6-packs of 12oz bottles (a new size for Hinterland) for $8.49.
Why: Because sometimes a good dose of hops is the only thing that will satisfy. Indulge me for a moment: for the past week, I’ve been working on a long piece about the history of hop growing in Oshkosh (that I’m hoping to post here next week). I’ve had hops on the brain for days, so when I went out scrounging for beer and saw this I grabbed it. And drank it. Glad I did. After the pour, you get a big peel of bright citrus aroma with some funky, Simcoe stink in the undertow. The Belgian aspect gets drowned out by the big shout of hops that the beer opens with. Lots of orange and pine in the initial draw, which quickly turns dry in the finish, where you get a hint of spiciness (coriander?). There’s supposed to be some wheat in here somewhere, but I can’t say I tasted it. There’s a sharp bitterness that lingers in the afterglow, but not so long as to be unpleasant. Overall, it’s a fine beer. There’s been a lot hubbub about session-able IPAs as of late and this one fits the category at just 4.2% ABV. But unlike a lot of the recent “light” IPAs, this one doesn’t grow tiresome half-way down the glass. A very nice beer for summer drinking. Hinterland continues to impress.
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