Double Dry Hopped Small Riwaka Everything: Other Half

I'm clearing out the beer cellar this week...

I was reading how this this Riwaka hop the other day and how Hill Farmstead was the first brewery to really get into the hop.

I couldn’t find the name of the IPA they brewed that started the craze, but when I had a chance to get a can of Small Riwaka Everything from Other Half, I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and check it out to see what the buzz was about.

I did a quick bit of research on the hop and it is the top of the New Zealand hop world. Lots of citrus and very balanced.

So let’s check it out.

First, I love the color of the beer. This looks like orange juice. It has a nice fizzy head and you get a really nice nose.

To the nose, very crisp right off the top. You get the subtle citrus smell which is pretty awesome.

My first sip, this one is nice.

It is smooth and not boozy as the 6.5% ABV would make you think.

It does have a nice sweetness.

I think I have my fridge set a little too cold so I’m going to let it open up a minute and warm up just a moment.

To add to the description, I’m looking at Untappd and it says that the beer has no IBUs. I usually like some IBUs.

Just so we are on the same page here, IBU stands for International Bitterness Units, and back in the pre-New England IPA days, high IBUs were something folks would look for.

I still look for them and anything that is heavy with cascade hops.

You know those by their bite, pine, and funk.

Back to this beer, another thing we need to mention is what does double dry hopped mean in the name of the beer?

It is a confusing thing to explain because if you have the beer not at the brewery, you may or may not know which technique was used. But two definitions for DDH, one is that the hops are added to the boil and they are added twice after the boil. The other definition of the term means that twice the amount of hops are to a usual hop addition is added in one batch.

I’m not sure I’m doing a good job explaining this, but here’s a primer.

Okay, back to our Other Half beer, very crisp. You get a lot of citrus and you get a great deal of smoothness.

I dig it.

A lot of times I don’t know that I would need more than one of a lot of beers, but this one would be really good, especially in the summer when I’m sitting on the back deck, reading, or listening to some music.

I’ll give this one a 88/100.

Let me know if y’all have had it and what you think.