Beer reviews: Offset Nothing But Lasers and SaltFire Slickrock Session 

• Mike Riedel

Offset - Nothing But Lasers: Nothing But Lasers is a mashup of Offset's Laser Kiwi and All Black Nothing IPAs. It features a salad of New Zealand hops— Waimea, Nelson Cryo, and Riwaka, followed by a massive dry hop of Nelson, NZ Cascade, Nectaron, and more Riwaka.

I poured my 16-ounce can into a standard shaker, resulting in a well-hazed, nectarine-yellow body and a thick, frothy and creamy-white head. The cap stops rising at about an inch high, and has great retention; lacing forms with a few large sheets and plentiful drizzle. It's laser-focused orange on the nose, also piney and grassy with some candied peach—really quite sweet, like yellow cake with orange jam substituted for the frosting. Some menthol-like freshness also emerged, as did fruity hops (as one might expect). It's immediately noticeable, and much like Offset's other New England IPAs, it has a very intense aroma overall. Stone fruits are big, with plenty of tropical and citrus notes as well—generally juicy, with notes of bubble gum, mango, peach, tangerine, grapefruit and orange juice. Dank herbs, weed and floral hops pop up as well with those hints of sweetness.

At first, the juicy stone fruits really come out in the forefront of the taste, as the sweetness present seems to accentuate that character very well—peach, apricot, mango, grapefruit, melon, clementine, dank herbs, floral, lime, sweet orange zest and tangerine hops, all very juicy and sweet. With time, that orange zest character builds and takes over, but all in all, it's more of a juice blend. A creamy and silky 8.0 percent medium-bodied brew, it includes moderately high carbonation and a texture with some nice chew to it. It ends with a clean and medium level of bitterness.

Verdict: The citrus from the hops comes out big here despite opening up with plenty of stone fruit initially and hints of tropical fruits. The orange character gets a bit strong, and in the end, that is just a bit much and it doesn't feel very well rounded or balanced, at least in the taste.

SaltFire - Slickrock Session: The beer pours a mostly-clear golden color with some amber highlights; a single finger of white foam adorns the top. The head fades very quickly, leaving just a bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass. The aroma of the brew is rich with an herbal hop smell mixed with some aromas of a tropical fruit nature. Along with these smells comes some aromas of grass and hay, plus a bit of a grapefruit hop rounding it out.

The taste begins with a smooth, bready flavor that has a decent sum of tropical fruitiness as well as some nice herbal hop tastes. As the taste advances, more and more grapefruit hop plus some other sweet tastes of caramel and orange come to the tongue. Some lighter grassy and hay tastes come in at the end, along with a rather big increase in an almost orange juice-like taste, leaving a very pleasant, nicely hopped and rather fruity sweet taste to linger on the tongue. The body of the brew is average for a 5.0 percent session IPA, with a rather average carbonation level. For the mix of sweet fruit and hop, the feel is very nice and creates quite a pleasant-drinking brew.

Verdict: This is a brew that I really enjoyed. It has a great sweet body that is balanced nicely by the hops and just enough bready/malty taste—a smooth and flavorful drinker.

You should soon start seeing Slickrock Session in cans and on draft at various beer pubs and restaurants around town, and of course at the brewery. Nothing But Lasers was found at The Bayou, Slackwater and of course at Offset Bier in Park City. As always, cheers!