Brewers Select Cloud Seeding at RoHa and Hammer Down at UTOG 

• Mike Riedel

RoHa - Brewers Select [Cloud Seeding]: If you're familiar with the RoHa Brewing Project, you may be aware of their utilization of expressive malts that lean towards toast and caramel. It works well with American pale ales, but their research & development wing has been able to identify the right combo of malt and hops to find a rhythm in their newest small batch NEIPA.

The head on this one is huge, while the brew itself is turbid and full of depth that is typical of what you'd expect from the style. The nose is chock full of citrus, yeast and dough. Strangely enough, there is a faint bit of bubblegum riding along the notes of melon, pineapple and guava, plus a hint of peppery-ness from the alcohol.

The taste provides a close follow-up to the nose, with a resinous Mosaic hops bite that is no joke. The Citra, meanwhile, brings a lot of the tropics, with a huge dose of grapefruit from the lupin powder. Light malt sweetness with some tangerine mixes on top of the tropicals, but the stars of the show are the tandem of hops that blossom on the middle palate. It leads with tangerine, a bright citrusy taste of oranges and red grapefruit, quickly followed by lime which just as abruptly turns tropical with passionfruit, mango and papaya. Green berry, kiwi and yuzu flavors then turn peppery and moderately bitter on the late palate, as a brisk taste of black tea, verbena and sassafras arises. A clean finish leaves an astringent bit of hops and then poof! It's gone, leaving just a watering mouth. The feel is rich and velvety, as if there are oats in the mash, while carbonation is crisp and tingly with a healthy effervescence at first. The weight is heavier than usual, yet remains super quaffable. I love it.

Verdict: A great New England style IPA. I hope it returns down the road, but in the meantime, I'm off to get some more!

UTOG - Hammer Down: This Hefeweizen was a collaboration with the 86th Fighter Wing out of Hill Air Force Base. It pours a slightly hazy pale-to-medium golden-yellow color, with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass and moderate burnt orange highlights. The beer has a two-finger tall, sudsy, foamy white head that reduces to a medium-sized patch of moderately thick film; a large patch of slightly mottled thin film covers the remainder of the surface of the beer, with a thin ring at the edges of the glass and light amounts of lacing. On the nose, you get slightly stronger than moderate aromas of wheat malts, with a light hint of grainy sweetness, then faint aromas of citrus/lemon zest and herbal hops.

Up front, there are slightly stronger than moderate flavors of wheat malts, with a light amount of grainy sweetness. It's followed by light to moderate flavors of citrus/lemon zest and herbal hops, which impart a light amount of bitterness that fades away, leaving a slightly lingering wheat malt/herbal hop flavor. Just shy of medium-bodied, with moderate amounts of carbonation, it's initially slightly crisp with a slight creaminess towards the finish.

Verdict: This beer is quite easy to drink, with well-hidden alcohol; I enjoy the initial slight crispness in the mouthfeel. The citrus/citrus zest/herbal hop flavors and aromas work well together, resulting in a decent example of the style.

Cloud Seeding is a very small batch. Its 6.5 percent alcohol is spot-on for the style, and it can only be found at their brewery on Kensington Street. UTOG made a little more of the Hammer Down; I imagine the squadron's bar is filled with it. Look for it at UTOG for now. As always, cheers!