Belt’s Beer Garden: You Spindle Me Right Round

Sitting on the northside of Houston, Texas is SpindleTap Brewery. And, after checking out their website, it’s a brewery I ***NEED*** to visit.

The super unique and awesome thing about this taproom is the attached 3.5 acre outdoor entertainment complex. It features a 9-hole minigolf course (that’s free on Thursdays), frolfing, a whiffle/T-ball field, a kickball area, basketball hoops, and even an area for corn hole games. It’s truly a must visit brewery now.

Today I have one of their limited release beers - Juiceton.

Juiceton, as one might guess, is a juicy IPA…however, this isn’t your average hazy beer. Since everything is bigger in Texas, Juiceton is an Imperial New England IPA. Clocking in at 8% ABV, it’s brewed with a blend of four hops (Citra, Columbus, Mosaic, and Simcoe) and the price is pretty reasonable as well - four 16-ounce cans will cost you $18. It was packaged just a few weeks ago, on March 28th.

The beer poured a very murky straw color. It was super opaque and quite muddy looking with about two fingers of sticky foam building up. The eggshell white head slowly disappeared into a small accumulation around the edges of the glass, leaving some nice webbing down the sides as it did so.

A bouquet of tropical fruit and flaked grain aromas emerged from the beer. The grist aroma was strong here, giving off cereal-esque notes of flaked oats and wheat. Joining the malt were some insanely tropical fruit flavors as well. Dank grapefruit, ripe pineapple, and fresh peaches were most noticeable with some resinous grassy notes also peeking out. But, overall, the beer smelled quite pillowy and heavy.

My first sip began with a soft and pillowy feeling that seemed to expand as the flavors progressed. There was a pop of bitterness that stung the back of my tongue and seemed to linger onwards for a few moments.

The oats offset some of that initial hoppy bite with a biscuity/Cheerios quality before those hop flavors really begin to pop.

Up first is the pineapple, with some light acidity hitting my taste buds, before the juicier qualities begin to come forward. From there it’s a blend of fruits; with grapefruit, mango, peach, and a dash of lemon all being discernible.

Towards the backend, the hops switch gears some and focus more on the earthy qualities. A resinous grassy flavor appears, bringing a slight stickiness to the brew. And, finally, a light dash of bitter pinecone appears for just a moment before everything begins to fade away.

The finish is actually really clean though. There is no hop bite, no sticky resin, no long-lasting aftertaste…it all simply disappears.

Despite the clean ending, Juiceton is still a double and, therefore, a bit heavier than the standard hazy beer making it less crushable than most NEIPAs.

All in all, it’s a tasty treat from Houston. The flaked wheat hits more than I would have liked and it wasn’t nearly as “juicy” as I was hoping…but it was still a good brew with a lot of tropical flavors and an insanely clean finish. Well worth the price.