We get the opportunity to highlight some pretty amazing beers and some pretty fascinating beer-related products at mybeerbuzz headquarters…and today is no exception. This is “Mad Hops” Flavored Brew Drops and I think you’ll be excited to see our review.
So first off, lets give you some details and fill in some gaps. Mad Hops Flavored Brew Drops were created in 2014 by founder Peter Hanley on his one-acre hop yard in the Finger Lakes region of NY. From that vantage point, Peter created a line of beer flavor drops that can transform a “regular everyday beer” into something more; and he named it Mad Hops. Unlike some other products, Mad Hops uses REAL hops, and it not only transforms the flavors of the beer, but also the aromas and even the color.
Mad Hops work by squirting a few drops of your chosen flavor into a clean glass, then pouring in the beer as you normally would. Peter suggests you use a regular beer, not a light beer and Mad Hops features flavors like Pale Ale, Irish Porter, Apple Amber, Wild Blueberry, Cherry Wheat and Mexican Lime with plans for more “culturally infused international flavors” in the future (think chocolate, cinnamon, maple, pumpkin, apricot, tangerine, grapefruit, ginger, lemon & strawberry…).
By now you’re wondering (and so were we), does it really work? So we set out to sample it…but believe it or not, the first real challenge was to find an average “regular” beer at the mybeerbuzz headquarters…(but we did). I won’t name the beer but lets just say it’s a pretty standard lager (as highlighted in the Mad Hops flyers). We also decided to use the same beer and test all three flavors we have individually: Pale Ale, Irish Porter, Apple Amber. 
We started with the Pale Ale flavor as well as a “control” glass of regular lager with no Mad Hops. While the color didn’t change dramatically on this one, it did deepen and darken the color a bit-- but our base beer was pretty close to a standard pale ale color to begin with. The aroma of hops was unmistakable and the hoppy bitter boost was easy to identify as well when you tasted the beer. While the Mad Hops didn’t change the mouthfeel, the flavors and complexity of the beer were much better with Mad Hops. 
Next up we tested the Apple Amber flavor and we felt this Mad Hops also did deepen the color, perhaps even more than the previous flavor. The aroma of apples was obvious and the spicy apple flavors were again obvious. This flavor seemed to lean the original beer toward an almost cider-like or apple-ale flavor, but it was still more drinkable to me than the original lager without Mad Hops. 
Finally we sampled the Irish Porter flavor of Mad Hops and before you even ask, yes it transformed a golden lager to a medium-brown porter color. The aroma was slightly roasty and the flavors followed suit. I also was surprised how the simple color of the beer, fooled your palate a bit into tasting more of a chocolate-porter flavor. Again this definitely improved the flavor of our original beer. Below is a shot of the “control” beer and the same beer with Irish Porter drops.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Mad Hops going in, but in the end we were pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind you can vary the intensity of the flavors by varying the amount of drops, so be sure to experiment a little. Mad Hops does transform the flavor, aroma and color of the beer, and while it isn’t going to turn an average beer into an amazing IPA, it does make the beer look smell and taste better. I’m not aware of pricing so far, but I suspect someone with a tight beer-budget may benefit from Mad Hops and I also think Mad Hops may serve as a great transitional tool for someone just starting to enjoy better beers and more diverse beer-styles.
Thank you to Peter for letting us test drive the new Mad Hops. Be sure to check out Mad Hops for yourself and as always, let me know what YOU think!
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