A lager that promised to take me to a sunny place sounded like just the ticket on a dismal and blustery day. And
The Reflex even
looks sunny, a bright rich yellow with a light shimmering haze. The aroma has a certain pilsner quality -- grain husks and grass -- though even more soft ripe fruit: peach and apricot. The texture is as soft as it looks, and surprisingly full for only 4.6% ABV. And despite those fruity modern aroma hops it maintains its lager poise, lightly-browned toast at the front leading to a bitter pinch at the back, with hints of green veg and metal, but nothing severe and nothing unnecessary. I don't know that I'm in a sunny place exactly, but it's very decent. There's a feel of unfiltered Czech lager about this: not something I was anticipating from it, but I'll take it.
By way of contrast, the companion piece is called
Love Bomb, a 7% ABV IPA of unspecified sub-style. Tangerine, gooseberry and passionfruit are promised by the label, as well as "Summer" and "Joy". To achieve all of this, the hop bill is a globe-trotting combination of Nelson Sauvin, Columbus and Hallertau Blanc. Its appearance is quite similar to the lager: hazy and yellow, with a generous amount of head. While there's a certain amount of juice in the aroma, there's a lot of funky dank too, so I was confused about whether it's a serious proposition or not. Tasting confirmed its seriousness. Dry from the get-go, its hops are there for bittering first, and only bring the fruit later. I wouldn't go as far as passionfruit, but the tangerine and gooseberry I could taste, as well as a harder lemon citrus. This fades out to a slightly sticky lemon cordial. It's quite unsettling to have something branded like a New England IPA, looking like a New England IPA in the glass, but which definitely isn't a New England IPA. There's almost a sense of brut IPA (remember those?) in the way it combines the hops with a highly attenuated body. It's... fine. I enjoyed exploring the different flavours and I like how clean it all was, but nothing about it impressed me specifically. Perhaps not being another New England-style IPA is enough.
A lager that promised to take me to a sunny place sounded like just the ticket on a dismal and blustery day. And The Reflex even looks sunny, a bright rich yellow with a light shimmering haze. The aroma has a certain pilsner quality -- grain husks and grass -- though even more soft ripe fruit: peach and apricot. The texture is as soft as it looks, and surprisingly full for only 4.6% ABV. And despite those fruity modern aroma hops it maintains its lager poise, lightly-browned toast at the front leading to a bitter pinch at the back, with hints of green veg and metal, but nothing severe and nothing unnecessary. I don't know that I'm in a sunny place exactly, but it's very decent. There's a feel of unfiltered Czech lager about this: not something I was anticipating from it, but I'll take it.
By way of contrast, the companion piece is called Love Bomb, a 7% ABV IPA of unspecified sub-style. Tangerine, gooseberry and passionfruit are promised by the label, as well as "Summer" and "Joy". To achieve all of this, the hop bill is a globe-trotting combination of Nelson Sauvin, Columbus and Hallertau Blanc. Its appearance is quite similar to the lager: hazy and yellow, with a generous amount of head. While there's a certain amount of juice in the aroma, there's a lot of funky dank too, so I was confused about whether it's a serious proposition or not. Tasting confirmed its seriousness. Dry from the get-go, its hops are there for bittering first, and only bring the fruit later. I wouldn't go as far as passionfruit, but the tangerine and gooseberry I could taste, as well as a harder lemon citrus. This fades out to a slightly sticky lemon cordial. It's quite unsettling to have something branded like a New England IPA, looking like a New England IPA in the glass, but which definitely isn't a New England IPA. There's almost a sense of brut IPA (remember those?) in the way it combines the hops with a highly attenuated body. It's... fine. I enjoyed exploring the different flavours and I like how clean it all was, but nothing about it impressed me specifically. Perhaps not being another New England-style IPA is enough.
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