It’s been a really, really long day, but it’s been a great one. I was in Redmond, Washington for work this morning, and stopped at The Cork and Vine, checking out Black Raven Brewing. Afterward, I headed back to downtown Seattle, visiting Pike market and the Pike Brewery. I then met up with my cousin, hitting Fremont Brewing, Reuben’s Brews, NW Peaks Brewery, Hilliard’s Beer, and Old Town Alehouse. Our last stop of the night was a place called The Noble Fir. I had not yet tried a beer from Naked City Brewery yet, so I went for this one.
Location: On tap and served in a curved pint glass at The Noble Fir in Seattle, WA.
Numbers: 6.0% ABV, 75 IBUs, 200 Calories
Ingredients: Fresh Hops: Citra and Simcoe
Appearance & Aroma: It’s straw-yellow in color and has a thick, foamy, bright-white head, which stuck around for a bit and left a bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma was an obvious, big piney-citrusy hop smell.
Taste & Feel: The body is light-medium, and the mouthfeel was slightly crisp. Up front, there were some slight bready grains detectable before a big, bold piney and citrusy hop flavor kicked in. It grew thoughout, with the piney flavors more up front, and the citrusy flavors coming through a bit more in the finish, along with a good amount of bitterness in the slighly dry finish. The hop flavors stuck around for a few minutes in the aftertaste as well.
Food Pairing: This is a beer with tons of piney and citrusy hop flavors. Therefore, I’d go with something that would be strong enough to knock down the hop flavors a bit, but might complement them as well. Therefore, I would go with a thick, juicy cheeseburger, but I’d go with pepperjack cheese to mix with the piney-citrusy hop flavors.
Overall Impression: After visiting twelve breweries during my trip to Seattle, I had been waiting for a big, bold West Coast IPA. As my last beer before leaving Seattle, I finally found one. The hop aromas and flavors were big and bold, sitting on a bit of graininess. I wish this were a slightly bigger beer with a little stronger malt backbone, but overall, it met this hop-head’s seal of approval.
My Rating: 
Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]
