Lord Hobo Glorious

The Stats
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.02/5
- RateBeer: N/A

No description on the latest release from Lord Hobo Brewing. This marks (I believe) their 5th canned release and I have previously reviewed two of their other beers. Both were heavy IPA's each at 8% or more, so today, let's pump the brakes and go after a nice pale ale.

Pours a hazy light orange with just over a finger of white head.

Lots of orange and lemon on the aroma. There's a faint hop aroma with a tiny bit of dankness and a nice malt base.

Some good earthy hop flavor comes at me first and then there's a tiny bit of pineapple juice extract to help fight off the bitterness. I think the malts are contributing a lot more than expected as each sip retains some burnt toast and bready flavors. Lemon peel and a bunch of citrus are prominent throughout and the finish, in addition to a big malt presence, has that classic Galaxy dankness on the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is medium and full. It has a big enough body to pass for a standard IPA, but also drinks as easy as it should for the style. Some good carbonation is noticeable and there's no warming from the alcohol.

Glorious works as a highly drinkable pale ale. It's complex enough to not be lost in the sea of pale ales out there, but it doesn't reach the upper, upper echelon of many other offerings. That being said, it makes great use of Galaxy hops and is worth a try when you see it on your local shelf.

Oh, and the answer is yes. With each sip, I was playing Bobby Roode's theme song in my head.


 
Rating
7.9/10

Lord Hobo Consolation Prize

The Stats
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.02/5
- RateBeer: N/A

Lord Hobo is back on the blog with another DIPA. This one is their biggest canned offering yet coming in at an intimidating 9.5% Not much information is available and all I have to go on is the brief brewer's description of "Hoppy Ale, Big Juice Hops, Hints of Stone Fruit". Well, screw it! That's all I need to get this going.

Pours a slightly hazy dark yellow with two fingers of white head.

Highly acidic lemon and grapefruit on the aroma with a deep resinous finish.

Dry, doughy malts are in abundance, but there's still some grapefruit peel and lemon zest to be found (although I wish there were more to counteract the dryness). The lemon is actually more shandy-like when the flavor initially hits and it can be quite refreshing at times, but then as it exits the malts make a return, but it's not a turn-off. Actually, as it warms, some lime zest comes through just enough to be detectable. The malts are most definitely sweet and they have an interesting contrast to the acidic fruit flavors.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly a tad lighter than I'd expect for a massive 9.5% DIPA. It's not even the fact that I anticipated something resinous and syrupy and it came up lighter, but I mean the beer falls closer to a standard single IPA. As I mentioned before, this tends to be dry at certain points, but some surprisingly refreshing hoppy flavors manage to even that out. Speaking of the abv that nearly makes this a Triple IPA, it is nowhere to be found.

Consolation Prize may not be the hop or juice nuke you want from a nearly 10% DIPA, but it did keep me guessing with the aroma and flavor combinations of resin, lemons, and malts. The hops were heavy on the acidity and the malts were sweet. I think if the mouthfeel would have been bigger (yes, I actually have to say that about a 9.5% DIPA), then this could have been a big winner. That's not me labeling this as a loser, but I think it should have been better than it was. Still though, it's a DIPA that won't annihilate your palate and does surprisingly go down easy.

Rating
8.2/10

Lord Hobo Boom Sauce

The Stats
Style: American IPA
ABV: 8.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.68/5
- RateBeer: 3.29/5

Lord Hobo is a popular craft beer bar in Cambridge,MA that offers an excellent rotating draft selection and bottle list. Owner Daniel Lanigan announced plans to open his own brewery in Woburn, MA and offer hop-forward beers that will compete with the best in Massachusetts. That dream was realized this past June when Lord Hobo Brewing opened it's doors to the public. Out of the gate is their signature offering: Boom Sauce. It's a big American IPA which is a blend of three of Lord Hobo's hoppy ales.

Pours a glowing, hazy dark orange with plenty of carbonation and two fingers of an off-white, eggshell head.

Very reminiscent of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Incredibly dank hops with some candied orange. Sweet malts and an herbal/grassy scent.

Again referring back to the Dogfish Head 90, this is a malt-forward beer if I've ever had one, but luckily the sheer amount of the dank, weed-like hops are balancing out the potential malt nuke that almost was. The malts aren't off-putting, they were just the unexpected star, but they are very sweet almost like caramel and toffee. All throughout the wet, mossy hop taste packs a punch and it follows all the way through on the finish. Drops of pine and spruce are sprinkled at every turn which is a hallmark of East Coast IPA's. When you step back and think about how well the balance is on the tidal wave of malts and hops, it's actually quite impressive.

In terms of feel, this definitely feels like a Double IPA. Medium in the mouth, but full-bodied with lingering bitterness. Surprisingly it isn't all that dry, but it's not refreshing either. 

Boom Sauce is an excellent flagship offering from this recently opened brewery. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the hype that went into this brewery and the overwhelming negative reaction it has received. While I will agree (slightly) that a brewer or brewery shouldn't promise the next big thing only because nothing can live up to your own massive build-up, I will also say that doesn't mean the beer is bad. In the craft beer world, people love to hate for no reason, especially if a brewery acts even a little cocky. I think that was the biggest reason for the backlash against Boom Sauce. Since it wasn't the best beer ever, people shit all over it and judge it more harshly than they should have. It was nearly impossible for people to set aside their prejudice and give a fair review, but you have to do so in order to give a beer a fair shake. In the end, judging solely the beer itself, this is a dank, hoppy IPA with a sweet malt presence that strikes a great balance and gives just enough fruity notes to makes this an all-around great IPA. I can't wait for the other canned offerings from Lord Hobo.

Rating
9.0/10