Quite the Wit

Expectations

There are some beers I have no real thoughts on before I try them. Take the Helles in the last blog; I'm not generally a fan of pale lagers and therefore wasn't expecting much. When a decent little beer came along I was nicely surprised and perhaps it scored a wee bit higher because it exceeded my expectations. Again I had no great preconceptions about the next beer :

Beer 168 from “1001 Beers...”

• Hitachino Nest White Ale. Style: Witbier, ABV: 5.5%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines
  
  Description: Light yellow and hazy. No head to speak of. Lemon aroma, with a hint of coriander and honey suckle. Slightly sweet tasting, with a nice spicyness (maybe some cloves) and wheat flavours. Light bodied with a little fizz.
  Thoughts: Lovely little witbier. Light, yet refreshing and the little bit of spicyness keeps it interesting. Perfect for a summer night, I could see me enjoying a few of these at a BBQ!
  Score: 7.5

Sometimes expectations are a bitch. There are some beers that you buy, and before even popping the cap you think “this is going to be great”...

Beer 74 outside the list

• Founders Pale Ale. Style: American Pale Ale, ABV: 5.5%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

  Description: Dirty Yellow and Hazy. Next to no head. Not much aroma, some hoppy citrus notes. Light malt flavour, a little bitterness, mild floral touches. Light mouth feel, not very fizzy.
  Thoughts: And this is where expectation kicked in because (a) I really enjoyed their All Day IPA, and (b) it says Dry Hopped in the middle of the label. When I see Dry Hopped, I tend to read it as DRY HOPPED and expect a big hoppy bitter hit. And this beer just didn't deliver that. It is probably a fine beer, it just couldn't match up to what I was expecting...
  Score: 6

Beer 75 outside the list

• Founders Centennial IPA. Style: IPA, ABV: 7.2%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

  
  Description: Light honey in colour and slightly hazy. Thin Head. Lovely IPA aroma, grapefruit, piney, and lots of hops. A little caramel and biscuit malts, but the main show is a big hop piney bitterness, with some citrus fruit. Mid bodied, a little bit resin like, and a long bitter finish.
  Thoughts: Expectation duly dampened, I opened this. This is also dry hopped (though it's not so obvious on the bottle) and this time it really is DRY HOPPED. Lovely beer for the hop heads out there. If you see it, buy some!
  Score: 8

Cheers