02 Oct SpindleTap X Parish Operation Juice Drop

Operation Juice Drop by Tony

SpindleTap Brewery X Parish Brewing

Aldine (North East Houston) X Parish, Louisiana

Style of beer

ABV: 7%

IBUs: ?

Packaging: Draft, 4 pack 16 ounce cans

It’s pretty awesome to see Houston pull together after Harvey, and it’s even more humbling to see the help extend from across state lines. I actually helped demo houses with a few dudes that drove in from Florida and coordinated some 18-wheelers full of supplies from Georgia. That was cool, but there wasn’t any beer involved. Seeing the help and having beer like Operation Juice Drop is what I’d consider making the best of a terrible situation.

We were all invited out to get some cans fresh off the lines on Friday, but Hannah couldn’t make it. I’m still debating on if I’m actually going to give her the cans I got for her or if “my dog ate them” will work.

The art for Operation Juice Drop features a parachuting hop gliding down in the rain, landing among some waves. The dark blue background of rain and waves are made of super minimal line art where the water is light blue and aluminum lines shining through the art. Their Taphandles look like oil derricks, and the art on the badge is reflective of that on the can labels.

It looks like…. Straight. Juice. Period. Operation Juice Drop is to Hazy IPAs as a 9,000 SRM is to a RIS. You can’t see daylight through it, although it’s not black. It’s like Garrison and Ryan decided they’d make the beer as opaque as the clouds that dropped 19 trillion gallons of water on Houston.

It smells like the sweetest grapefruits, oranges and pineapples with a little bit of alcohol. While the smell is bold from the first crack of the can, it doesn’t even begin to do the beer justice.

Operation Juice Drop shines through the dark clouds with fresh, green pineapple flavors on the front and grapefruit and sweet oranges on the finish, but in between there’s a smooth fruitiness. The grapefruit finish also singed of a pronounced hop burn on Friday, but that’s already mellowed out quite a bit by Sunday evening, and it’ll continue to settle out. It also doesn’t taste as sweet as it smells.

The mouthfeel is perfectly creamy, soft, pillowy, marshmallowy. It’s like drinking a cloud. As it warms up, there’s an alcoholic finish that grows.

The obvious comparisons here for flavor and aroma are Houston Haze and Ghost in the Machine. If you read the backstory we put together on this beer, you’re already well aware of that. But aside from the obvious, the Motueka hops really shine through on HH and OJD, so the comparison is undeniable. As far as appearance is concerned, this looks as hazy as Baa Baa’s Meenie and From a Galaxy Far Far Away.

You can find Operation Juice Drop on tap at Hughies, Beers Looking at You, Tapped, The Growler Spot, Craft Beer Cellar, and just about everywhere great beer’s sold. I’m also told the can release was pretty calm, and there are still some cans remaining. 100% of the profits go to Harvey relief efforts, so go get you some!