Idle Hands Galaxy Four Seam

The Stats
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.6%
Current Ratings...
- Untappd: 4.13/5
- Beer Advocate: 4.34/5
- RateBeer: N/A

"Take all that you know and love about our flagship NEIPA but swap the big Citra addition for a big Galaxy addition! Flavors of ripe oranges, pineapple, and melon on a pillowy and rounded body of malt."

Pours out like murky gold. Completely hazy body and a sunset orange color with a finger of white head.

The aroma is a volcanic eruption of pineapple, oranges, dankness, and melon. A distinct bubble gum or Juicy Fruit quality makes my mouth water, but it has an overwhelming hop juice quality too. Smells excellent.

Much like the nose, the taste is exploding with flavor at every conceivable turn. The juicier pineapple and orange are back in big ways and are refreshing at any given time. This time around, massive amounts of non-acidic grapefruit and small touches of dessert-like orange sherbet are also leading a D-Day invasion on my palate's Omaha Beach. Once the fruits are finished, the onslaught of flavor continues with unrelenting bitter dankness and pure hop juice. Each swig is capped off with a thud of bitter flavor and is quite the exclamation point on each sip. More of the aforementioned Juicy Fruit and bubble gum taste, which is a characteristic of well-made Galaxy IPAs, is almost just as big as anything else in the flavor profile. The aftertaste is full of an equal 1-2 punch of the pineapple and the weed-like dankness. It's one of the best Galaxy IPAs I've ever had.

Mouthfeel is full with a creamy texture. It feels bigger than 6.6%, but retains insanely high drinkability. The body does come in JUST a bit thin for such a flavorful and creamy beer, but at this point I am just looking for things to bitch about. Dankness lingers for extended periods of time after each sip and the carbonation is spot-on.

What else can I say about Galaxy Four Seam? The base Four Seam is a Citra bomb, but the Galaxy version is not merely the same experience, but with different hops, but instead is a completely different beast. The aroma and flavors are at the highest levels of intensity and it is only a Single IPA and not imperialized. I think I might be ready to call it and say this is the best use of Galaxy hops in a Single IPA I have ever had. Damn you, Idle Hands for making me show an emotion!

Rating
9.6/10

Idle Hands Six Seam

The Stats
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 8.2%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.52/5
- Untappd: 4.4/5
- RateBeer: N/A

"Subtle spice character from rye complements the increased hopping rates and focus on Mosaic hops. The characteristic smooth pillowy mouthfeel and reduced bitterness elevates the notes of peach, apricot, mango and pineapple."

Pours a hazy orange with a finger of white head.

The aroma has a strong bouquet of sweet fruits. Tangerine and berries are prominent. An underlying spice note with orange rind and a touch of dankness shine brightly as well.

The taste provides a lot more bitterness that the aroma would lead you to believe, but it is always welcome. There's lots of orange and lemon peel, but not too much in the way of citrus fruit itself. More of those berries are back from the aroma, but with no tartness. I'm getting a decent amount of powdery malts and they tend to stick around after each swig. The sweeter fruits are here on the return as guava and mango seem to be what's coming to mind first. The finish keeps with the theme of sweetness and mixes in some of those malt flavors.

Mouthfeel is medium with good carbonation. This clocks in at over 8%, but the body isn't syrupy at all. No alcohol to be found and it drinks easy.

Six Seam had a good combination of sweet fruits mixed with subtle spice, dankness, and a solid malt base. Compared to Four Seam, I think I'd stick with the latter as that seemed to have more robust flavors and higher drinkabilty By itself, Six Seam is still a solid DIPA that stands on its own.

Rating
8.6/10

Idle Hands Four Seam

The Stats
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.6%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.27/5
- Untappd: 4.03/5
- RateBeer: 3.95/5

"Four Seam, our first year round IPA, conjures up thoughts of a tropical paradise with bursts of citrus, mango and guava that sit on top of a refrained malt backbone. Bitterness remains subdued to allow the true character of the hops to shine through while the cloudy appearance elevates the experience — a true New England IPA."

Pours a beautiful glowing orange with a murky body and less than a finger of white head.

Now that smells delicious. A flood of grapefruit and pineapple are unrelenting with each whiff. At the same time, there's an underlying dank quality with oranges, lemon peel, and melon.

The taste has a great combo of tropical fruit juice and genuine, bitter hops. Actually, the bitterness wins out here as opposed to the nose where it came in 2nd place, but you won't find me complaining any time soon. The taste is a bit more light and crisp than expected with a rush of lemon and acidic citrus. This provides a refreshing quality that leads to easy drinkability. I am loving this dank hop taste combined with fresh orange juice and it is present all throughout the experience. The finish has a bit more of a hop bite, but still retains fresh citrus.

Mouthfeel comes in lighter than I'd like and doesn't have that creamy and full quality you get from so many "New England IPA's", but this still gets the job done. As I said before, this has many refreshing moments which makes the beer easy as hell to drink.

Four Seam competes with the big boys in New England with the look and taste of so many IPA's from the area. A slightly thin body holds it back from being elite, but I am nitpicking at this point. Yeah, if you can get to Idle Hands, you'll find a beer people would wait in line for just waiting for you on tap.

Rating
9.0/10