Belt’s Beer Garden: All Tied Up

Today I have a beer from a Los Angeles area brewery that I’ve never been able to try before - Unsung Brewing.

Unsung Brewing has two locations in Orange County, California - their production brewery is in Tustin while their taproom is a few miles north in Anaheim.

I had never heard of them when I saw their Bow Tie for sale. And, as I am prone to do, I wanted to try a new brewery so I gladly shelled out the $7 for the single 16-ounce can.

Bow Tie is from their Nebuloud IPA Series, which “explores the hazy outer reaches of the IPA universe [to find] heavenly hop flavor in astronomic proportions.” This one was brewed with Amarillo, Azacca, and Mosaic hops and comes with an 8.5% ABV and 40 IBU. It was canned on 2/24/20 and this review was written on 4/8/20.

This Double IPA poured a dark straw color, nearing copper, with plenty of haze and just about a finger of head topping it off. And, with the exception of a small ring around the edge of the glass, the foam quickly disappeared.

Aroma-wise, this brew had a blend of super dank notes, some malty sweetness, and some hoppy fruit characteristics. Stone fruit leads the way, with apricot, peach, and just a touch of pear. The dankness leads to some other earthy elements while the grains add hints of bread and caramel.

My first sip began with a light fizzle that quickly leads to some slightly tart tropical fruits. Mango, peach, and apricot were the main offenders here. Beneath the fruit there was a hop twinge that brought some acidity and bitterness that continued to hum underneath everything for the duration of the sip.

About midway through, the flavor swapped from the tropical fruits to the more earthy and dank flavors. There were hints of basil and other herbs along with the tiniest bit of black pepper spice that hit late - right before everything faded away.

Joining in on that late flavor swap was the grist. The bready and caramel notes peaked out here with some flaked grain sweetness joining the herbs.

I was expecting this to be a more juicy, fruit forward brew. But, instead, you get a combination of flavors with Bow Tie - from the stone fruit up front to the dank/earthy notes to the malty sweetness late.

To me, there was just something a tad bit lacking here. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t really let any of the flavors shine through and, instead, there was just too much muddling between the three main characters.