Belt’s Beer Garden: So Giddy

代尔,加州以西约70英里的哟semite National Park and about 100 miles east of San Francisco. It’s home to three breweries but the coolest of those wasDying Breed.

Oakdale has been a long-time cattle ranching community and, at one point, was known as the cowboy capital of the world. Dying Breed wanted to reflect this and chose the highland cow as their logo. Not going to lie, I love the look of highland cows…which is why I initially decided to head out to this brewery. But I’m so glad I did.

Their taproom was absolutely gorgeous. It was open, inviting, and had its own concert stage attached to it. The stage, which sits at the very back of the taproom, is used pretty consistently with different musical acts playing at least once a week. Plus the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. I loved my visit so much I had to grab a few cans to go. One of those four-packs was of their regular releases, Giddy Up

Giddy Up is a juicy, tropical IPA brewed with Nelson and Mosaic hops. It has a solid 6.7% ABV and was canned on September 20th. The four pack was reasonably priced at around $16.

Giddy Up poured a nice and cloudy golden straw color with about a finger of eggshell white head topping the beer. The foam left some nice lacing down the glass as it disappeared, coating the side with a thick ring of bubbles.

The aroma was a nice blend of juicy and dank hops. Tropical notes of papaya, berries, melon, and pineapple were all very noticeable. But there were also dank, earthy notes of pine and resinous grass that gave off a slightly dry quality.

My first sip began with a creamy, thicker mouthfeel that seemed to expand before it slowly faded away. A blend of tropical fruits began to wash across my taste buds, with waves of pineapple, papaya, melon, and a bit of grapefruit all making an appearance. The papaya and melon really popped after a second or two, taking control of the flavor for a brief moment.

Although the sip was dry and resinous from the beginning, it wasn’t until the backend that the grassy flavor began to appear alongside a bit of grapefruit rind. And even when those flavors did show up, that pithy/dank resinous quality stayed underneath the fruity aspects of the beer.

There was a slight lingering dryness that stuck around for a little while after the sip with some honeydew and melon characteristics refusing to leave as well.

Giddy Up was quite dry and thicker, making it hard to drink fast. But, what it lacked in crushability it made up for in flavor. It was quite a delicious hazy with a ton of hoppy flavors with no hop bite.

Dying Breed is TOTALLY worth a visit…I wish Giddy Up wasn’t as dry and was a tad bit lighter. But it’s still a very, very good beer from an awesome place.