Galaxy Sauce

Fieldwork Brewing Company — Berkeley, CA

16 Mar 2018 · Stephen

Hazy Double IPA Fieldwork Brewing Company

9.3% ABV

Deep golden Color

Contributing Factors

Presentation ✓

Character ✓

Experience ✓

Return ✓

4 / 4 I'd order another

Tasting Notes

Appearance Deep golden to light amber, fully opaque — the hazy DIPA format at its most expressive. Looks thick, juicy, and substantial in the glass. A soft, creamy head that reflects the flaked oats and pillow-soft mouthfeel underneath.

Aroma Galaxy at 9.3% ABV is an event. Fieldwork's own descriptors are accurate and worth repeating: pineapple juice leads, immediately and generously, followed by lychee's distinctive floral-tropical quality, apricot jam, passionfruit, and something closer to lemonade on the back end — a bright citrus sweetness that keeps the whole nose from going purely tropical heavy. The clear gummy bear comparison Fieldwork makes is the most unexpected and most accurate note — there's a candy sweetness to the Galaxy expression here that's completely its own thing. The aroma is so expressive you won't need to lift the glass to smell it, as Fieldwork promises.

Palate Big, sticky, and juicy — again, Fieldwork's own words, and they earn every syllable. The mouthfeel is pillowy and smooth, the 9.3% ABV present but woven seamlessly into the tropical fruit rather than sitting on top of it as heat. The pineapple and lychee carry through the middle alongside the apricot jam sweetness, with the mild malt character providing just enough structure to keep the whole thing from going pure fruit juice. Soft bitterness — Fieldwork specifically calls this out as having the same soft bitterness as Galaxy Juice, just with a bigger, juicier body around it.

Finish Long, tropical, and gently sweet — the lychee and passionfruit linger alongside a soft, candy-like Galaxy quality that's the clear gummy bear character fading slowly. The alcohol is warm and present on the finish without ever being harsh or hot. Medium-long length, resolving into a clean tropical sweetness that makes the next sip inevitable and the 9.3% ABV feel like someone else's problem.

The Verdict

Galaxy Sauce is the imperialized, amplified, jacked-up version of Fieldwork's Galaxy Juice IPA — same single-hop Galaxy concept, more of everything. A cloud of pineapple that rains juicy perfection — Fieldwork's description is poetry, and it's accurate. Galaxy Sauce is the single-hop DIPA done exactly right: one variety, maximum expression, 9.3% of intoxicating tropical catalyst. Galaxy greatness, as advertised.

— Stephen · Contributing Factor Brewing · 16 Mar 2018