551. Boulder Beer Co. – Freshtracks Wet-Hopped Singletrack

551. Boulder Beer Co. - Freshtracks Wet-Hopped Singletrack

Tonight I’m at a happy hour for a couple of co-workers who are moving on to other positions within the company. We’re at Station 220 in Bloomington, IL., and I was a bit surprised to see they had 6 different craft beers on tap. I hadn’t heard of this one before, but I like Boulder’s Singletrack Copper Ale (I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed that one yet), so I thought I’d give this wet hopped version of it a try. I found out it’s wet hopped with fresh chinook hops from Hotchkiss, CO.

Location: On tap and served in a regular pint glass at Station 220 in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 4.9% ABV, 38 IBUs, 160 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s got an orange-copper hue and is slightly hazy with a huge, fluffy, bright white head on it that left a decent amount of lacing. The aroma was mostly hoppy with some citrusy smells over hints of light caramel breadiness.

Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouthfeel was a bit crisp from the decent amount of carbonation in it. There was a toasty, bready flavor up front, before it changed to an earthy, piney, and citrusy hop flavor in the middle. The bitterness picked up a little bit in the finish, with the hop flavors still in the forefront. The piney-citrusy hop flavors lasted for a bit in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer had a good amount of hop flavor, and would be good with a burger or any other solid bar food, including wings or pizza. I tend to prefer a cheeseburger with this type of beer, as the toasty bready flavors up front, mix well with the bun and burger, and the cheese mixes with hop flavors.

Overall Impression: As I mentioned, I like Boulder’s Singletrack Copper ale, and the malty, bready, caramel flavors in it. This has those same flavors in the base beer, with a good amount of hop flavor and bitterness thanks to the fresh hop addition. Overall, I enjoyed this beer and was glad I got a chance to give it a try on tap here.

My Rating: ★★★½☆

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