Uptown Brewing Company “Hammock Flip”

Style: IPA
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 60

Nick’s Take

This Friday evening, I’m bringing a solo new release review, as Joe is enjoying some brews up in Maryland (as you may have seen from the post he and Lauren made earlier this week). While I was out of town last weekend, Joe was able to head to Uptown Brewing Company (of course based here in Greenville, NC) to try an exclusive release of “Frizzle Frazzle Razzle Dazzle,” which was a blue raspberry fruited sour that was actually blue in color. It was so interesting that we wanted to review it, but unfortunately by the time I got back into town earlier this week, Uptown had already kicked the keg. No surprise, as a beer like that is sure to draw in beer enthusiasts and curious minds alike. Luckily, I was still able to grab one of their other recent releases: “Hammock Flip.”

This IPA was super hazy and was a dull, but rich golden hue. It reminded me a lot of butterscotch, which is a very underrated ice cream topping (and great in milkshakes, but I’ve been unable to find a place around here that has that offering – but I digress). The frothy head that sat atop the beer was holding onto the inner wall of the glass and left a bit of lace. My eyes were telling me that this IPA was going to be right up my alley, and I hoped that my eyes weren’t lying.

Taking a few smells, I noticed a mix of two different hop characteristics: vegetal and fruity. On the one hand, there was a strong aroma of piney, vegetal hops that perhaps are what a lot of people think of when they think IPAs, but there was a sweet tone that came through as some stone fruit and melon – a bit of a tropical profile. I enjoyed the contrast of the slightly bitter vegetal hops and the juicy aromas. I detected only a bit of the malt character – bready, perhaps – but the hops were too much to allow the malt aromas to blossom much.

“Hammock Flip” is medium-bodied and produces a bright hit of carbonation in each sip. I liked that the sensation was persistent throughout, creating an exciting mouthfeel for this IPA. I didn’t find it to have an overwhelmingly bitter mouthfeel, nor was it drying my mouth much. In fact, a little mouth coating developed, and this proved to be instrumental in retaining the flavor from each drink.

While being a rather hoppy IPA and sporting 60 IBUs, “Hammock Flip” is surprisingly not super bitter on the palate (or maybe I’m just accustomed to hoppy beers and it wasn’t too much for me). Again, those vegetal and piney hop flavors are matched with some delicious, juicy hop flavors that provide a sweet balance to the beer.

I thoroughly enjoyed my pint of “Hammock Flip” and one of my biggest takeaways was how smooth and easy to drink it was. As a fan of hoppy beers AND crushable beers, this was a great middle ground. It would do well with flatbreads, pizza, or other dishes with cheese, in my opinion. At only 5.5% ABV, there is also the opportunity to enjoy several of these while playing some games, watching some sports, or partaking in Trivia at Uptown. Or, if you’re like me, you can use a few TouchTunes credits and subject everyone in the brewery to your impeccable taste in music.