February 6, 2015

Marz Jungle Boogie

Brewed By: Marz Community Brewing Co. in Chicago, Illinois  
Purchased: 16.9oz bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2015 
Style/ABV: American Pale Wheat Ale, 5.5%
Reported IBUs: 10

Something something Chicago shelf turds. About the Marz Community Brewing Company:
The Marz Community Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Chicago, Illinois. The brewery launched in 2014, and was a project started by brothers Ed and Mike Marszewski, along with a handful of professional and amateur brewers. The website credits several "members of the Colletive," including Alex Robertson, Mike Marszewski, Pete Alvarado, Johanna Wawro, Michael Freimuth, Doktor Kazys Ozelis, Eric Olson, Ed Marszewski, Mike Redwick, Malread Case, Tom Piekarz, Eli Espinoza, and Tim Lange. This is like a football team or film credit roll, and I'm sure their list of contributors will expand. The brewery's POV is that they are a collective comprised of home brewers, professional brewers, and artists, that have united to make small, artisanal batches of beer. And that's all you really need to know. For more info, check out their website or Facebook.
The Jungle Boogie is an American Pale Wheat Ale brewed with rooibos tea. This pours into a dark red, brownish body...the head retention is impressive, and this is hazy as you'd expect with a wheat beer. 
Marz Jungle Boogie

The aroma is absolutely fantastic. There is an explosion of bright Mosaic hops and huge Rooibos tea that culminates in an explosion of bright tropical fruits, berries, fresh tea, green tea, intense wheat, peaches, fresh pine, and steeped tea. It's an incredibly vibrant and fresh aroma, and the fusion of the tea and hops is spot on. 

This drinks more like a pale ale than an American Wheat Ale, but I see why they are calling it that. There's a lot of bright tea notes and clean wheat notes, but beneath the tea and wheat is a serious punch of Mosaic hops. The hops not only drop pine and tropical fruit, but they also blast some lemon, resinous bitterness, and a little hemp oil. The tea notes also come in on the back end adding some tea-like bitterness. You get lots of green tea, and some earthy shades of medium/black tea. The tea-hop punch really works here.

This isn't the first fusion of tea and hops, but it's definitely the most congruent example I have had. I actually enjoy this more than the Laughing Panda Green Tea IPA, and I enjoyed that beer. This is medium-bodied with fairly flat carbonation, but it is so clean and easy to drink. Palate depth is perfect, with good depth and duration. This also unravels with a fair bit of complexity. The tea and bright Mosiac hop notes up front transition into a wheat-heavy mid, with more fruity tea/hop notes. The back end trails off with the fruit and tea, and drops some earthy green tea and lemony resin. This is dropping some peach notes as I sip on it, and it's just incredibly refreshing. I hope this is around in the summer.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I'm tempted to bump this up to a 4.5 but I really need to camp out on another bottle. As it stands, this is maybe the best hop-tea beer I have had. I would definitely recommend this, and the food pairings are endless. I would maybe pair this with a fish dish or sushi...but that's me. 

Random Thought: These Marz guys are really coming out the gates strong.

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