Chicagoist's Beer Of The Week: Ale Asylum's Hopalicious

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Sep 5, 2014 8:30PM

This week we're acclaiming our love for hops with a beer that's perfect to close out the summer.

Hopalicious is an American Pale Ale from Ale Asylum of Madison, Wisconsin. The label touts that the brewery does eleven separate additions of Cascade Hops to this beer and the nose definitely implies something of the sort with classic aromas of citrus and pine. On the palate the pine notes take center stage, giving a nice punch of acidity up front and a lingering finish. We do get plenty of orange peel as well, along with some floral tones, but these sit underneath that piney surface to lend a little complexity. There's a solid malt backbone that lends a bit of caramelization and helps to balance the bitterness. At 5.8 percent alcohol content Hopalicious would make any lover of hops a happy drinker.

We'll admit, we haven't really given a lot of love to hop-forward beers in the Beer of the Week column this summer, and we'll also admit that summertime is probably the best season to enjoy pale ales and IPAs. The bitterness that these beers bring to the table can be awfully quenching on a hot day, even to those who wouldn't consider themselves hopheads. The reason we've left these beers out is because these styles are gaining popularity all on their own, and we like to steer people in the direction of things they might not find out about otherwise. If you read this column regularly, you've probably noticed that we have a general affinity for lagers, but we can assure you that we consume more than our fair share of hoppy beers as well.

Hopalicious is available on draft and in 6-packs, check beermenus.com to see where you can pick some up this weekend.