Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Parish Brewing Ghost in the Machine Review

Parish doesn't have anything on their website about this one.  Facebook page merely says "The beer is super aromatic ranging from dank, orange, apricot, pine, and floral and is very bitter. IBUs are over 150.  It's probably too hoppy for you."

Aroma: Resiny pine up front with grapefruit in the background.  A hint of woody and bready notes at the back end.  A hint of warming alcohol.  No other aromas come through initially, but there is some dankness that comes through after warming.  A bit catty.  11/12
Appearance: Brilliant gold/orange with thick rocky white head.  Good retention.  Mix of a few medium and plenty fine bubbles with excellent lacing.  3/3
Flavor: Grapefruit with a little peachiness dominates.  Resiny pine lingers with a hint of sweet bready malt keeping it honest and from becoming too harsh.  A touch of warming alcohol is barely detectable.  No diacetyl or other off flavors.  18/20
Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied with a balance towards the dry side from the hops but not astringent.  Just enough sweetness to keep it from being harsh.  A little tingling from the carbonation and warming from the alcohol.  No diacetyl slickness.  5/5
Overall Impression:  This is really a fantastic beer.  I'm not a huge hop head in general, but this is worthy of many of the American DIPAs that beer geeks go gaga over.  9/10

That puts it as a 46/50 in my book.  Andrew really knocked it out of the park with this one in my opinion.  Personally, I still prefer Grand Reserve and ICS hedonistically, but this beer may put Louisiana on the map among hop heads.  It's not too hoppy for me.