Toppling Goliath X Hops Pale Ale (Yellow)

The Toppling Goliath Brewing Company is in Decorah, Iowa. They make not only the best beer in Iowa, but some of the best in the entire nation. This is one of the second two releases in their new X Hop series. They will each have a unique color to their label, and each color represents a new experimental hop. They encourage people who try the X Hops beers to provide their input back to the brewery. They will then try to encourage hop growers to grow more of these new hops so as to have more regular production of some of these varieties.  (See Red here and Green here and Blue here and Orange here). After all five different varieties are released, there is going to be a release of all five together in one Rainbow beer. My brain is already nearly exploding just thinking of that.

The beer pours a hazy orange amber and apricot in color. There is over an inch of thick and foamy white to off-white head that leaves rings of light lacing down the glass. The aroma is funky, musky hops, passion fruit, and some zesty citrus rind. The taste has the same earthy, funky, muskiness; then a wave of tropical and melon fruit hits and surprises, I didn’t catch any of that in the aroma. There is a bitterness that starts subtle, but finishes intense. A bitter, astringent tingle is left on the tongue, like licking the sliced peel of a grapefruit. As the beer warms, the fruits start to come out in the aroma as well. This has intense flavors, but it drinks easily and enjoyable.  The carbonation is also subtle, but leaves a soft sting in the mouth, which contrasts nicely to the smooth, round feel of the beer. 

If pseudoSue and Golden Nugget had an illegitimate love child spawned from a tryst in a hop field during a warm, fragrant night, it would be this beer.