On Tap.

Collective Brewing Project's Mom Azacca Is A Franken-Monster of Styles.

Welcome to On Tap! Each week in this recurring feature, we'll take an in-depth look at one of the many beers now available in the suddenly crowded North Texas brew scene. The goal here is to look at these area beers without our local goggles on and to wonder aloud, “Is this beer good or do I just like it because it's local?” Should be a fun experiment, no? Cheers to that!

This week, we sipped on The Collective Brewing Project's Mom Azacca.

Fast Facts on The Collective Brewing Project's Mom Azacca.
Style: Witbier.
ABV: 5.6 percent.
International Bitterness Units (IBUs): 21.
Color: Pale Gold.
Availability: Limited.

Overview.
The Collective Brewing project is a rather new-ish venture based in Fort Worth. Before it was up and running at its new location, it was operating out of a small warehouse in Haltom City. Then in November 2014, Collective opened their taproom and brewery in the uber-hipster Southside district of Fort Worth. You owe it to yourself to go check
out this area; gentrification aside, it's a pretty fun part of town.

Collective claims that it is the first Franken-monster brewery slash taproom in Fort Worth (their words). So there's a sense of rebellion with this brewery, a sense of embracing more wacky types of brew that may straddle styles.

Background on Witbier.
Witbier (wit) is a classic Belgian style that is known to be relatively low in alcohol and very refreshing. Most wits are a pale straw color and super hazy because of the use of wheat malt. They're also low in hops. Common additions to the beer at flameout or secondary are citrus, ginger, coriander, pepper berries like grains of paradise or fruit. It is important to note that some brewers don't add any flavorings to the beer, letting the classic wit yeast strain contribute all of the clean spice or fruit bite on its own.

Appearance.
Mom Azacca pours a pale golden color. It's super hazy, which is on point for the wit style. Head retention is noted to be good for this beer, even though, at the time of this review, the beer pours with not so much head. This is a classic problem at many a DFW growler bar, where taps are run a tad bit lower on the gas in order to avoid a foamy mess on their hands when they fill growlers.

Aroma.
Unlike traditional wits, Mom Azacca is all about its tropical hop nose. According to BJCP style guidelines, wits are known to have moderate malty sweetness, with a complex spice or peppery note. Hop aroma should not overpower the beer. Mom Azacca has the spice and a hint of tartness, but the hops dominate both the aroma and the flavor. I catch myself wondering aloud whether this a wit or a white IPA, as white IPAs are known to have some of the same aroma and flavor characteristics of wits. Speaking of IPAs, Mom Azacca is dry-hopped with Azacca hops (hence the name). According to the grower, the Azacca varietal gets its name from the Haitian god of agriculture. Good to know!

Flavor.
Mom Azacca starts with a citrus bite on the tongue. There is a notable spice note, too, but I can't quite put my finger on it. There's almost a vegetable sort of flavor. While I mention these two initial flavors first to give them some air time, the hop flavor is the real star of the show. Makes sense: Azacca hops are known for their huge tropical notes. Unlike more traditional wits, though, Mom Azacca is missing a little bit of that wheaty, malty backbone. The hops overpower the more subtle flavors, making the flavor a little bit unbalanced on the hopped side.

Mouthfeel.
As this is a medium to light-bodied beer, the mouthfeel is nice and light, almost watery. There is a slight tartness that lingers with the hop bite. Overall, the mouthfeel is a tiny bit thin and underwhelming. That said, Collective doesn't necessarily need to adhere to the classic style for this wit. That's not how it rolls.

Overall Impression.
Is this beer a wit? Is this beer a white IPA? How bout we just settle on a wit with an identity crisis. It has the wheat malt backbone of a wit, but the dry-hopped bite of a white IPA.

If you're OK with beer that is sort of out-of-bounds for style and you like both witbiers and hops, you're in luck. While the overall mouthfeel is a little bit watery, Mom Azacca makes it up with its floral hop flavor. Just beware if you order this beer only based on seeing “wit” in the bar menu description because this beer is more like a white IPA to me.

Either way, I hope you like hops!

Score.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give The Collective Brewing Project's Mom Azacca a 6.5.

What's happening in the area brew scene? (Powered by Dallas Brew Scene.)
• Thursday, September 3. Artisan Cheese and Craft Beer Pairing at Community Beer Co..
• Thursday, September 3. Back to School – I Need Coffee Night at On Rotation.
• Saturday, September 5. Dallas Brew Bus September Tour.
• Sunday, September 6. Labor of Love Homebrew Competition at Deep Ellum Brewing Co.
• Thursday, September 10. Brew Ha Ha Comedy Series at Community Beer Company.
• Saturday, September 12. Dallas Observer Brewfest at Dallas Farmers Market.
• Saturday, November 7. Untapped Dallas at Fair Park.
• Friday, November 13. 2nd Annual Brewer's Ball at Renaissance Dallas Hotel.

Previous On Tap Reviews:
• Peticolas' Royal Scandal: 10.
• Community's Mosaic IPA: 10.
• Peticolas' Velvet Hammer: 10.
• Community's Barrel-Aged Legion: 10.
• Community's Legion: 10.
• Lakewood's Saint Dymphna: 9.5.
• Peticolas' Lost Epic: 9.5.
• Community's Ascension Porter: 9.5.
• Lakewood's Temptress: 9.5.
• Lakewood's Goatman: 9.5.
• Community's Public Ale: 9.5.
• Peticolas' Thrilla in Brazilla: 9.5.
• Revolver's Blood & Honey: 9.
• Martin House's Imperial Texan: 9.
• Community's Trinity Tripel: 9.
• Peticolas' Irish Goodbye: 9.
• Four Corners' Block Party Porter: 9.
• Cedar Creek's Belgian Dubbel: 9.
• Deep Ellum's Easy Peasy IPA: 8.5.
• Deep Ellum's Oak Cliff Coffee Ale: 8.5.
• Lakewood's Rock Ryder: 8.5.
• Rahr's Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Warmer: 8.5.
• Lakewood's Raspberry Temptress: 8.5.
• Noble Rey's SteamPunk: 8.
• 903 Brewers' Citra On Top: 8.
• Bitter Sisters' Hissy Fit: 8.
• BrainDead's Gritz: 8.
• Community's Barrel-Aged Inspiration : 8.
• Cedar Creek's Fisticuffs: 8.
• Lakewood's Punkel: 8.
• Four Corners' El Chingon IPA: 8.
• Martin House's Day Break: 8.
• Deep Ellum's GOURDzilla: 8.
• Peticolas' The Duke (Aged 12 Months): 8.
• Deep Ellum's Pale Ale: 8.
• Revolver's Bock: 8.
• 903 Brewers' Sasquatch: 8.
• Peticolas' Wintervention: 8.
• Armadillo Ale Works' Brunch Money: 8.
• Martin House's Salsa Verde: 8.
• Cedar Creek's Spinning Mule Robust Porter: 8.
• Lakewood's Holiday Bonus: 8.
• Lakewood's Hop Trapp: 8.
• Lakewood's Hopochondria: 7.5.
• Martin House's Rubberneck Red: 7.5.
• Lakewood's Antigoon's Revenge: 7.5.
• Community's Texas Pils: 7.5.
• Lakewood's Zomer Pils: 7.5.
• Cedar Creek's Dankosaurus: 7.5.
• Shannon's Chocolate Stout: 7.
• BrainDead's Red Ale: 7.
• Community's Razzy Raspberry Witbier: 7.
• Martin House's Gateway Blonde Ale: 7.
• Bearded Eel's Purple Unicorn: 7.
• Shannon Brewing Company's Irish Red: 7.
• Texas Ale Project's Somethin' Shady: 7.
• Deep Ellum IPA: 7.
• Cedar Creek's The Lawn Ranger: 7.
• Martin House Brewing Company's Cellarman's Reserve IPA (Amarillo).: 7.
• Lakewood's Till & Toil: 7.
• 903 Brewers' The Chosen One: 7.
• 903 Brewers' Sugar On Top: 7.
• Martin House's Gateway XPA: 7.
• Armadillo Ale Work's Quakertown Stout: 7.
• Revolver's High Brass: 7.
• Community's Pale Ale: 7.
• Martin House's River House: 7.
• Grapevine Craft Brewery's Sir William's Brown Ale: 7.
• Community's Funnel Cake Ale: 7.
• Audacity's Boss Raptor IPA: 7.
• Revolver's Ironhead IPA: 6.5.
• 903 Brewers' Trot Line: 6.5.
• Peticolas' Operation Collaboration: 6.5.
• Grapevine Craft Brewery's Nightwatch: 6.5.
• Peticolas' The Duke: 6.5.
• Deep Ellum's Double Brown Stout : 6.5.
• Tupps' Cotton Mill Gold: 6.
• Rabbit Hole's Tweedleyum: 6.
• Rabbit Hole's Off With Your Red: 6.
• Cedar Creek's Elliott's Phoned Home Pale Ale: 6
• Grapevine Craft Brewery's Lakefire: 6
• Armadillo Ale Works' WunderMelon: 6
• Deep Ellum Pale Ale: 6
• Lakewood's La Dame Du Lac: 5.5.
• Deep Ellum's Numb Comfort: 5.
• Four Corners Heart O' Texas: 4.
• Audacity's Sunset Boulevard: 4.
• Shannon Brewing Company's IPA: 4.
• Grapevine's Monarch: 4.
• Franconia Wheat: 3.
• Miller Lite: 1.