Archive for the 'Top of the Hill' category
Top of the Hill “Ram’s Head” IPA
Well, if you were reading yesterday, then you already know the story of where Top of the Hill brewery comes from. So, I’m not going to dwell on that. But, I WILL dwell on the fact that the label art on this is a good looking Ram, no doubt created in the image of Rameses, the UNC mascot. That I can respect! And, this will round out the canned offerings from Top of the Hill. Feel free to stop into the restaurant for their more substantial list of draft beers – but, as for portable potables, this is all you’re gonna get!
The Ram’s Head is non-filtered but remarkably clear, and it’s a lovely ruby brown color with a rocky and persistent caramel head. The aroma of this beer is rich and malty with a good hop backbone. In the mouth, this beer is MUCH better than I recall from my hazy evenings at Top of the Hill! The initial sensation is of a rich sweetness that becomes sweeter and nearly cloying around the middle of the tongue. However, before things get out of hand, the hoppy goodness rears its head and brings a barrage of musty bitter hops to tackle the sweetness. The sweet aspects are nearly obliterated, and the bitterness commands the aftertaste and sticks with you for a long while after you swallow. Frankly, this is a great IPA, and much better than I had previously given it credit for. It wins big on all three aspects of appearance, aroma, and flavor. This is the first time I’ve purchased this in the portable can version, but certainly not the last. I’ll be glad to have a beer that I can enjoy at a tailgate while visually supporting UNC. Go Heels!
Top of the Hill “Leaderboard Trophy” Lager
Unless you’re from the Chapel Hill area in North Carolina, you probably don’t have a clue what this beer is, and you probably shouldn’t. As far as I know, this beer doesn’t enjoy distribution anywhere beyond the cities immediately surrounding Chapel Hill – even there, it’s a limited distribution. Top of the Hill is a restaurant and brewery located on Franklin Street. It is, by many accounts, ground central to one of the country’s most revered college towns. And, on top of that, they happen to can two of their beers! So, this fits in well to our canned beer theme this week…
The Leaderboard Lager pours like most lagers – a clear light golden with a pillowy white head. The aroma of this is nearly nonexistent. It’s a very light smelling lager with just the lightest aroma of bready malt. In the mouth, this is definitely a malt-forward lager. The flavor is very light and refreshing with very little flavor initially. Around the middle of the mouth, though, there is a noticeable surge in bready sweetness that rides the wave down the throat and sticks around in the aftertaste. For a lager, this beer doesn’t wash especially clean, as the sweetness sticks in the back of the throat with a light syrupy texture. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I like a lager with some substance sometimes. Altogether, this looks and smells like any macro-brewed lager out there. However, the taste is clearly superior. It’s not super big or mindblowingly good. But, it IS a good lager with a light but pleasant flavor that easily beats out it’s canned competition in your supermarket aisle. While this isn’t a genre I’m crazy about, I have to admit that Top of the Hill does a good job with this one.
