Tonight I'm going to be drinking a brew from Central Waters Brewing Co. This brewery was founded back in '98, and is located in Amherst, Wisconsin. They have a cool section on their website that includes some "
Recipes of the Month", recipes for food that in some way incorporate (their) beer...worth a look if you're the culinary type. This Illumination Ale is a seasonal brew, available only in March and April. For some reason, they don't even list this brew in their 'Beer' section, which is a little odd. You brew and distribute a beer, but you don't bother to add it as an offering on your own website.... either their web-manager is a lazy asshole, or this is a super-top-secret classified beer. What's your money on?
The label on this bottle is a contrast print with a green hop flower in the middle - simple and well-done, looks good. The label also indicates this is a 9%ABV DIPA. The beer is a slightly cloudy dark golden color, with a sturdy half inch of white head that holds onto the lace. The aroma is fumagous, with grapefruit taking primary role, along with some pine and lemon zest. This beer smells awesome.
The flavor begins bitter, with resiny pine starting things off. Then comes some grapefruit and lemon peels. After that, an herbal, earthy sweetness appears on top of a lightly breaded malt backbone. That sweetness helps balance out the beer, and prevents the hop profile from getting overly bitter to the point of harshness. The body is medium, texture oily, but the carbonation is high which helps lighten the load of oily resins in the back of my throat. Alcohol is vaguely apparent, but remains a distant afterthought to the rest of the flavors.
Overall Rating: (5.0 out of 6.0) This DIPA was bitter and destructive to the palate, but I loved it. Central Waters put together a brew that full-filled my craving for big hops, without overdoing it. I can't honestly say it was balanced....it wasn't. But the hop profile was awesome. Hopinistas, go find this beer.
The label on this bottle is a contrast print with a green hop flower in the middle - simple and well-done, looks good. The label also indicates this is a 9%ABV DIPA. The beer is a slightly cloudy dark golden color, with a sturdy half inch of white head that holds onto the lace. The aroma is fumagous, with grapefruit taking primary role, along with some pine and lemon zest. This beer smells awesome. 
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