Whiskey Review: Hopworks Brewer's Whiskey

This whiskey is clean on the palate, medium-light bodied, with no noticeable heat. It tastes a bit flat, has a slightly medicinal character, and has notes of spiced apple cider. Finish: This has a medium finish, that becomes slightly warming over time. It’s drying and somewhat astringent, with a hard candy sweetness that lingers. With Water – Nose: Apples are still the largest part of the aroma, but water releases some of the compounds that give it more of a tobacco character, and a hint of clove emerges. Palate: Water helped mellow out the medicinal qualities of the flavor, and an interesting carrot cake note became more prominent. Finish: The water also reduced the astringency and it just became drying, and a bit sweeter. Final Thoughts and Score: Distilled beer always brings a finished spirit that is one part predictable, and one part unexpected. I am very familiar with the base beer because I spent many evenings during my first year in Portland at the original Hopworks location, and the organic lager was a go-to session beer. The expected part here is that the beer is still somewhat recognizable in distilled form. The unpredictable part is the strong apple overtone. After multiple pours I didn’t want to keep going back. Ultimately, this is a fun bottle for Hopworks fanatics, and cool to bring out at the end of the night for a beer bottle share, but otherwise it’s not something to repeat, at least not with this beer.