Belt’s Beer Garden: Hidden Gem?

I try not to review the same breweries too often or too close together...but I recently found a beer from Listermann that I just needed to share with all of you.

And, even though I just wrote up a review of their Yoda Potato Strikes Back in August, I found out they released a few Legends of the Hidden Temple beers and, as a fan of the show growing up...HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?

A quick reminder that Listermann Brewing Company is out of Cincinnati, Ohio and has been around for a while. Dan Listermann is a former Miami Redhawk and began a manufacturing plant for brewing supplies back in the early 90s. After being very successful for nearly two decades, in 2008, he decided it was time to get into brewing himself.

Today I have one of their two Legends of the Hidden Temple releases - Purple Parrots. They also released a Blue Barracudas beer (who were my favorite team growing up) and I hope to see more of these teams shortly.

Purple Parrots is a West Coast IPA brewed with Chinook, Idaho Gem, and Simcoe hops. It has a 6.8% ABV and costs $15 for a four pack of 16-ounce cans. It was released back on September 6th and this was written on November 2nd.

The beer poured a dark and hazy copper color with just over a finger of slightly tannish head. The foam lingers for a moment before fading down half a finger, and lacing the glass nicely as it does so.

On the nose, there is a massive piney resinous aroma with some softer notes of citrus sitting behind. Some sweet caramel and bready malts back up the hops and balanced the brew. The smell reminded me of a stronger beer, making it seem like a hefty 9%+ DIPA; not a West Coast IPA under 7%.

The first sip began with very little carbonation but, as expected, a big zip of hops flooded my taste buds with earthy notes of pine, grassy, and that sticky resin feeling.

The malts reacted quickly and shut down any bitterness to the brew, imparting a heavy dose of caramel and biscuity flavors that sliced into the hops, but the hop flavors slowly climbed over the malts and took back control of the sip.

Some light citrus notes began to pop up midway through the taste, giving off notes of lemon, orange, and grapefruit rind. There are also some light floral flavors as well but, for the most part, the pine/pine nuts lead the way the entire time.

Purple Parrots ends rather cleanly, with no lingering stickiness or dryness.

While it’s a balanced brew, it wasn’t one of my favorites. A little too malty and piney for my tastes and didn’t have that bitter twinge I was looking for in a West Coast IPA. Was hoping for more hops and less malt.

*I also found a can of their Blue Barracudas (a NE IPA) and that was a very tasty and crushable beer that I would give an A-, so look for that one as well!*