The Alchemist Focal Banger
Focal Banger is an American India Pale Ale. We have a real love for IPAs here at The Alchemist, and we strive to offer you the best hop experience that we possibly can.
This beer is brewed using Citra and Mosaic hops and our favourite British malts. Truly, an abundance of hoppy goodness...
Freshness and control have always been my main concern when it comes to our beer. We are committed to providing you with and unfiltered and unpasteurized hop experience.
Why do I recommend that you drink it from the can? Quite simply, to ensure a delightful hop experience. The act of pouring it in a glass smells nice, but it releases the essential hop aromas that we have worked so hard to retain.
If you MUST pour it into a glass, you may find that some of the hop resins have settled to the bottom - leave them in the can when poring. This beer is perishable and at its best when it's young, fresh and hazy. Keep it cold, but not ice cold.
Drink this beer today, you could be dead tomorrow...
- John Kimmich
This beer is brewed using Citra and Mosaic hops and our favourite British malts. Truly, an abundance of hoppy goodness...
Freshness and control have always been my main concern when it comes to our beer. We are committed to providing you with and unfiltered and unpasteurized hop experience.
Why do I recommend that you drink it from the can? Quite simply, to ensure a delightful hop experience. The act of pouring it in a glass smells nice, but it releases the essential hop aromas that we have worked so hard to retain.
If you MUST pour it into a glass, you may find that some of the hop resins have settled to the bottom - leave them in the can when poring. This beer is perishable and at its best when it's young, fresh and hazy. Keep it cold, but not ice cold.
Drink this beer today, you could be dead tomorrow...
- John Kimmich
4.1
680 reviews
Stowe, United States
Community reviews
Hazy gold with a rocky white head. Aroma is tropical fruit, citrus fruit, pine and grapefruit. Taste is medium sweet and medium/heavy bitter.
Can from Uptown. Pours a pale orange hue with a medium white head. A big sweet lemon and almost like a herbal lemongrass nose. The palate is awesome, pillowy, bitterness throughout, lemons, more of that herbal nature, some mint, clean. This blows the lactose sweet dominated hazies out of the water.
More on the bitter side but full flavored.
Gylden skum hvid
Citrus tropisk frugt grape malt
Bitter meget sød lidt
Oile livlig
Excellence in a can….do I need to say more?
Hazed golden pour with a fine head
Lovely hoppy aroma
Solid nice bitterness. No f……juice
Citric hoppy, malty, tropical and pine in the flavor
[Can at Jæren Beer Festival 21]
Better than heady topper. More juice although the palate is a little too bitter. I drank from the can as they advise and the scent really pops.
Shared can at regional tasting. Slightly hazy yellow colour, white head. Decent fruity aroma. Decent fruity flavour too, solid bitterness.
Can from the Bennington supermarket.
Huge citra bomb (+mosaic). Astringent, and not juicy enough for the intensity. Drink out of the can? Why?
Not loving it at all.
Lukt: Citrus, honning.
Utseende: Gul.
Skum/kullsyre: Tynt skum.
Smak: Citrus, honning.
Medium: Rating:747413, Boks@470ml, ABV@7%, Når@13.08.2021.
Hvor: Jæren Ølfestival 2021.
The Alchemist Focal Banger
IPA - Hazy / New England (NEIPA)
In can at Shannon view Inn at Warwick near providence airport. Excellent IPA from Vermont as usual. Hoppy bite but balance and great paired with roast beef sandwich.
Can at brewery with commonmac and highendtully and rosskyle during NEBT. Hazy yellow with likely white head. Clean hop nose but in the can. Taste is beautiful rich hop , the quintessential example of this style. Long dry finish. Delicious and classic.
Piney resiny nose, big, floral, bit danky. Medium bodied, juicy, nice carbo. Lotsa pine and citrus , grapefruit and weedly. Little doughy, faint grain. Dry, fruity, lush finish, decently bittered. Nice! 16oz can from Waywood.
0,473 litre Can, from a trade. Cloudy Golden/ orange with white head. Malts, hops, Citrus, heavy Piney bitterness,
Can (May 4, 2021 canning). Head is initially average sized, frothy, white, mostly lasting. Body is murky light to medium yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (grain), lightly hoppy (orange, passionfruit), with notes of rotting onions, acid reflux, Silly Putty. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter, slightly unclean. Medium to full body, oily/watery texture, soft/lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic.
Despite being a very fresh sample, the hops don't really stand out, just a timid orangey kinda thing with icky off notes covering everything. I must presume they don't want you to pour it into a glass so you won't notice those unpleasant odors, but of course aroma is almost everything to me, so dirty IPAs like this are completely lost on me. Slick and oily in the mouth, where it's very sweet with mostly sourness to balance. Somewhat dirty aftertaste, but not as bad as the nose. The lasting head is by far the best thing about it, but sadly below that it's the usual muddy sludge common to the style. Not a good first impression from this brewery.
苦 柑橘味道 中度酒体 浑浊 热带水果 泡沫丰富 金色
Can from Whole Foods in Capitola! Every store in the Bay Area sells out in 1 hour, if they post on Instagram. So what store is left after 2 days: Whole Foods Capitola. Educated guess pays off! Despite being readily available on the east coast, I’ve been wanting to try for many years on the west coast. Hazy golden color. Wow great combination of old school bitterness and new school hazy flavor and body. Much better than Heady Topper imho. Lots of dank Mosaic flavors finishing with clean citrus hop bite. Excellent!
Heavy, but good. Slightly less dank than HT, some bitter citrus
(Can) Cloudy medium orange body with a large, pillowy off-white head and good lacing. Aroma of pale and medium malt, pine resin, grass, citrus fruit. Body is medium; round and oily mouthfeel; medium, soft carbonation. Flavor has citrus pith and pine resin--strongly bitter; grass; crisp; some peach and tropical fruit hidden underneath.
Drinked a year a go in Stowe. I din't “Drink From The Can!” this beer, not at all anyway... I had to take a look. Pours very hazy with a beautiful and dense head, smells and tastes are a lot intenses just like fresh hops can be. Citrusy, tropical, floral, herbal: a big bomb of flavours. Bitterness is there but never reaches the level of no return and the result is a great balanced beer.
Best *IPA* I've ever drink. Period.
Pint can. Dank grapefruit hop aroma with notes of grass, floral hops and pine resin. Pours cloudy, pale golden colored with a large off white head that has excellent retention and some soapy lacing. Starts with dank grapefruit and grassy hop flavors. Finishes dry with floral and pine resiny hop bitterness. Quite bitter but very good.
Amazing
Hazy rich golden hue with a thick white head. Rich sumptuous floral hoppy aroma that’s fresh and grassy and a little dank. Smells like a grassy summer beer fest. Smooth pale malty and wheaty flavor that’s got a little body to it with a nice floral resinous dank bitterness. Lots of fresh vibrant American hoppy flavors that’s not too bitter but definitely hoppy, yet balanced. Wonderful and layered and complex.
Can. Drank from can as can instructed, though I poured some out for science purposes and it is a hazy yellow color. Peach, pepper, hint of grass, grapefruit, slight bitterness. Medium body. Initially I was quite disappointed, but it grew on me. Pretty good.
Can from Fortnight Wine Bar in Providence, RI. Lightly cloudy gold with a touch of orange, inch of medium-fine white head, pretty good retention. Aroma is some banana, pinapple, apple, light malt caramel, pine, lighter notes of candy, dry grain dust, pear. Body is medium-weight, oily, a bit starchy, moderate carbonation, burn and coarseness. Pretty creamy! Flavor is bitter (not astringent), some pine and resinous grasses and sap, some grapefruit, a bit of malt dust, a touch of orange. Very different flavor profile than the aroma - less fruity. Fine - I like the heady topper better!
Fresh can from Keg King in LA but enjoyed in FL after a bridge walk. Pours a hazy golden yellow with a foamy white head that lasts. Aroma is lightly dank and citrusy. Flavor is strong earthy bitterness that lingers with some citrus pith. No complaints.
Pours hazy yellow with a big fluffy head. Aroma of mosaic hops, oranges. Taste has fruity hop oils, tropical, citrus notes. Palate has continued orange notes, bitter hop elements, light tinge of a basic malt base as the resin fades. Good.
Can from Daniel's Market Oceanside.. Pours light yella, hazy big white foam. Fruity galaxy hop aroma, citra candies. Lemon cake, fresh leafy hops, some fruity pebbles, just covers the palate. Long bitter grapefruit, candy hops remain. Strange the can says, "drink from the can" I tried from a glass first and it was less intense, from the can its a hop massacre. Abide by the can. I preferred Heady Topper, but considering Im really not into NEipas both were fantastic.
Getting this fresh, canned on March 31, with all its aroma they say they worked hard to retain, as they say on the can. Last year I tried and older can and between drinking it from the can and from a glass the difference was big. This time, honestly not much as its aromas and flavours are rich, alive and kicking! Pours hazy orange, big fluffy head, good retention and excellent lacing. Nose is a East meets West blend of pine and stone fruit, citrus and tropical notes. Tastes surprisingly quite bitter and yeasty, that layers up into fruitiness on the second sip. The finish is a return to a grassy bitterness, quite pronounced. Medium body, smooth and enjoyable. A very solid, classic brew!
16 oz. Five weeks old. Pours hazy golden with a long-lasting cream-white head with excellent retention that laces the glass nicely. Aroma is biscuity, orange juice. Taste has a high pithy bitterness with a light candy sweetness alongside. Flavors of biscuit, OJ, pith. Way more bitter than I was expecting, but I have no problem with that. It's really good, but is it top 10 good? I don't think so.
Sharp and resiny. The hop finish retains a clean and even temperament, probably mostly because of the malt backbone that is properly executed. Although an overall well made beer, to me it just isn't as enjoyable or satisfying as Heady Topper.