Hopfly Brewing Company “Just Breathe”

Style: Fruited wheat ale w/apricot
ABV: 5.5%

Monday brew time. Rocky Mount seems to be our theme the past few days with our last post coming from Spaceway Brewing. However, this time we are tasting from nearby Hopfly Brewing Company. We visited the brewery on our last visit to the city but our beer for tonight actually comes from our local brew store, Jarvis Street Bottle Shop.

Nick’s Take

Hopfly has created another iteration of their “Just Breathe” fruited wheat ale – this time, apricot is the touted add-in. This was fitting, as I’d describe the color as very reminiscent of apricots. The beer was really hazy and fought most of the light that tried to sneak through the glass. I got a nice head to form when I poured “Just Breathe” into my Spieglau wheat beer glass and the foam persisted for virtually my entire tasting. Something about this wheat ale made me want to immediately go drink it on my patio (but I remained inside so that I could get accurate tasting notes and not receive any outside influence).

On the nose, I detected strong amounts of stone fruit and sweet malt character. I might add that it had a floral element, too. It smelled really refreshing and bright; it reminded me of spending the day at the beach and the enjoyment of taking that first sip of beer in the midst of the ocean air. 

That brightness was present in the mouthfeel as well. It was crisply carbonated upfront, with a medium body and soft finish. A little coating developed on the tongue – likely a product of the apricot added in – and it was slightly drying. 

The taste was pretty fruit-forward on my palate, with a juicy characteristic. The malt bill was also present and it contributed to the sweetness. There was a tangy quality that came through, that was likely imparted from the apricots. 

This beer was refreshing and smooth to drink. I could see myself having a couple of these at the beach (as aforementioned) or also on my patio on a warm day (again, aforementioned – and I may go finish this pint out there now). I’ll be sure to look out for other versions of “Just Breathe” with whichever other fruits Hopfly uses in the brew – especially as we near these warm spring and summer months here in North Carolina.

Joe’s Take

Hopfly always produces some great beer and they are continually rolling out with the new releases. This week however, instead of a new release post we are trying one we picked up from Jarvis Street Bottle Shop. I usually tend to associate Hopfly cans with IPAs (as you may tell by the pictures that I automatically grabbed an IPA glass for the tasting) but this week we’re trying a fruited wheat ale.

“Just Breathe” poured a hazy yellow-orange color in the glass and produced a decent amount of head. The white foam was maintained throughout the duration of the tasting. The color was reminiscent of…. big surprise here… apricots. You may be able to convince someone (if you let the head fully subside) that it was a glass of fruit juice.

The nose was packed with fruit aromas and a subtle hint of wheat ale esters. The aroma was quite juicy and sweet. This was backed up by more mild notes of wheat and bread. This is definitely a beer you want to smell when tasting.

Mouthfeel was smooth and dry. The wheat in the beer helped give the brew that velvety smooth mouthfeel and the light carbonation worked to lift it from your tongue. There was a moderate drying sensation as the beer exited the mouth and this kept me going back for more sips.

The taste of the beer was fruit forward with some wheat and malt character coming through on the finish. Apricot was the predominant flavor (who would have guessed that) but there was a slight spicy estery note present as well. This spice was subtle but helped to tone down the sweetness of the beer.

Drinkability is decent and I could have one or two of these on a warm summer afternoon. Would be a great addition to the porch beer line up. If you haven’t checked out anything by Hopfly then you’re missing out. They have a huge lineup of beers that will help kill the upcoming summer heat.