Troegs Hopback Amber Ale

When I last visited the Troegs tasting room, I decided to give Hopback Amber Ale a try. As my taste buds have evolved, I have been enjoying some hoppier beers, so I felt it was time to give Hopback a try. The beer pours an amber color with a filmy white head. The aroma is fresh and floral, a sign that I was going to really enjoy this beer. The taste is malty with some caramel and pepper, and the hops hit on the side of the tongue. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. I may have avoided this beer in the past, but it is one of my favorite Troegs brews now. The caramel and hops really played well together in providing a great tasting beer experience.

Troegs Hopback Amber Cask Ale

While at Troegs yesterday, the employees opened up a keg of a special brew. This was a special run and an experiement, but they took a keg's worth of Hopback Amber Ale and conditioned it in a cask prior to putting it in a keg for serving. The result was miraculous. The aroma mostly comprised of the Hopback with a floral scent, but there was a hint of oak. I felt that the conditioning in the cask really rounded out the flavor and smoothed the hop bite. The beer took on a different character all together. I would assume the stats are the same as the Hopback, which has an alcohol content of 6% ABV. I would really like for Troegs to try this again, as I thoroughly enjoyed this special brew.