Style: Juicy India Pale Ale w/one hop or another
ABV: 7.5%
Joe’s take
Monday beer review time! This week Monday hit Nick so hard he can’t do a beer review, so I’ll be rolling solo tonight. Tonight we have Ancillary* Fermentation’s “Permanently Impermanent.” Now to explain the asterisk, and what better way then a direct quote from the website:
“A pop-up fermentation experience, and a partnership between a bunch of Raleigh-Durham beer folks, centered on the idea that beer should be more experimental, more experiential, and a hell of a lot weirder. We host pop-up taprooms as well as launches of one off beer in different location, each centered around a theme, exploring everything from fancy felines to used goods to time itself.”
Now that you have an idea of their experimentation with fermentation philosophy lets introduce the beer. “Permanently Impermanent” is a juicy IPA that is brewed with “one hop & another” and if I was good enough at picking out hop profiles it would be fun to guess what was used. Alas, I’m not there yet so that would only result in my embarrassment so we’ll skip that for now. Let’s jump into the beer review, shall we?
“Permanently Impermanent” poured a nice pale golden color reminiscent of pineapple juice. It had a nice level haze, that made the light behind it shine through almost aura-like and I instantly got thirsty looking at it. There seemed to be a secondary fermentation in the can (I don’t think this was intentional) as my can was pressurized and the beer exploded with a thick white foam as it hit the bottom of the glass. Once I got the beer in the glass (took about 5 minutes with the level of foam on each pour) the foam persisted in thick fluffy laces around the edge of the glass. All-in-all it made for a unique beer visual experience.
The aroma coming off the thick collar of foam was strong and carried notes of stone fruit, tropical fruit, and other sweet juicy hop character. A slight citrusy note…maybe grapefruit?… was present along with some subtle hints of malt. I didn’t detect a ton of dank hop character and the beer smelled relatively sweet. It was a quite appetizing aroma.
Now to actually drinking the beer. The mouthfeel was smooth, but the smoothness was quickly washed away by sharp carbonation. The level of carbonation I experienced could have been elevated from what it usually is as there seemed to be some level of fermentation happening in the can. However, it wasn’t overbearing and played well with the hop aromas and drying characteristic of the beer. After sip number one, the beer quickly beckoned me back for another and I happily obliged.
Flavor was a plenty in this experimental collaborative brew and it went hand-in-hand with the aroma punch from “one hop and another.” Juicy hints of stone fruit, tropical fruit, melon, and a hint of citrus graced my tongue and swiftly faded away with the drying finish of the beer. There was a light malt character but this baby is all hop aroma and flavor. It was a juicy hazy delight and I think this would pair quite well with a burger and fries as it would likely wash away any residual fats from the aforementioned cuisine.
“Permanently Impermanent” was a delight to try and I can’t wait to try the other cans I bought from the Ancillary* Fermentation collaboration brewing experiment. If you come across some cans I suggest you scoop them up and give them a try!
Abbreviated tasting notes
Appearance: Thick fluffy clouds of foam with loads of lace. Pale golden hue. Nice haze that lets the right amount of light through. (4.5/5)
Aroma: Stone fruit, tropical fruits, melon, citrus, some sweet malt. (4.5/5)
Mouthfeel: Smoothness that is quickly whisked away by sharp carbonation. Drying finish. (4/5)
Taste: Juicy fruit, stone fruit, tropical, melon. Light malt character. Dominated by juicy hop character. (4/5)
Drinkability: Pretty crushable, keeps you taking sip after sip. Need to exercise caution as it is 7.5% ABV. (4/5)
Total: 21/25
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