04 Dec Copperhead Alpha Serpentis

Copperhead Alpha Serpentis

Copperhead Brewery

Conroe

IPA

ABV: 6.9%

IBUs: 86

Packaging: Draft, 4-pack 12 oz Cans

The first time I heard about Copperhead Alpha Serpentis was on Hopcast Houston when they interviewed Seth. I was really excited to try this beer mainly because the concept was so well thought out. #designerd + #beernerd. I don’t get out much because I’m always working, but Nick was kind enough to grab a couple for me, so I could enjoy the execution of said concept.

Here’s why the concept of this beer is so dope: Seth explained that it’d be the second entry into Copperhead’s rotating hop experiments, and this one would feature Galaxy hops like Citraddicted featured Citra. Copperhead Alpha Serpentis is a constellation of a snake. Galaxy + snake = conceptual genius.

A solid concept is enough to peak the interest of  a design nerd like me, but the beer has to back it up. Copperhead Alpha Serpentis definitely does as it pours hazy like the Milky Way (stars, not chocolate bars), somewhere right in between between yellow and orange. There’s an airy, chalk-white head that rests atop my Teku, but it melts down pretty quickly. It laces spotty and delicately like stars alongside the inner walls of my glass.

The aroma of Copperhead Alpha Serpentis is where it all gets started. It smells like very-ripe mango and cantaloupe. Nick said it was a bit vegetal, but I don’t get that – just heavy, ripe fruit and a tiny little alcohol note on the finish; all of these aromas amplify as it warms and the first sip commences. Standard stuff.

Copperhead Alpha Serpentis tastes like it was dropped from the stars. I like it better than Citraddicted, as the Galaxy hop notes are a bit bolder, and the mouthfeel a bit thicker. .

It starts off sweet and fruity with the above tropical aromas, and then the balanced carbonation livens up the sip. As it goes down, the 86 IBUs come to party along with that alcohol burn and a mild hop burn. The start of each sip is smooth and unassuming while the finish sneaks up on you – sounds like a Copperhead beer, alright. There’s a lingering melon and stone fruit taste that lingers on the palette as the bitterness hangs around between sips.

Since this is part two of their series, it seems impossible not to compare it to Citraddicted, which was good. I like this one better because it feels more well-rounded from the fruity-hop-forwardness to the sweetness that the malts impart. Despite using the same hops, the grain bill and process had to be quite different because it doesn’t really remind me much of Baa Baa’s In a Galaxy Far Far Away, despite showcasing the same hop in the same style. Weird.

I’m pretty sure that cans of Copperhead Alpha Serpentis are all gone (they should be), but you can find it on tap at Wax Taps, Petrol Station, Nobi, the Grain Cellar, and Hughies Heights as well as a few other spots known for good beer around town.