Appearance:
Light to medium appearance, gold/copper. Thin head that dissipates quickly to soda-like appearance. Little to no lacing.
Smell:
Grapefruit dominates suggesting amarillo and other citrusey hops used in dry-hopping and late additions. Malt is apparent after the first few sniffs, but hidden beneath a blanket of hops.
Taste:
Caramel and grapefruit dominate; medium-heavy sweetness, with lingering citrus and malt. Almost like citrus candy after the first swallow. Nothing even remotely resembling spoilage.
Mouthfeel:
Thin to medium body. Alcoholic warmth in the gut after a few sips.
Drinkability:
Extremely drinkable, no lingering aftertaste, could definitely make an evening of these. Many IPAs are too heavy on the FG, but this is somewhat perfect in that regard. Some small puckering effect after finishing the whole (330-360ml) bottle, but well below what one might expect from an excellent IPA.
Drinker Notes:
If I could buy this, I'd buy a lot of it. Kicks the shit out of many of the local brews, as it's a
BALANCED IPA. Very refreshing for an IPA. For the ABV (7.25%) it's a stellar example of balancing alcohol and flavour; this is one of the smoothest I've had.
Brewer Notes:
I'd not be surprised if the only hops in this were bittering and amarillo. Amarillo definitely dominates the brew. Not very bitter for an IPA, and without a cloying finish would suggest a low FG and overall hops-bill. Must have been a neutral yeast at a lower temperature (guesstimate S-05 or kin, and 16-18C ferment). Guessing at a mash-temp of 153 with heavy use of low-lovibond crystal malt.
Overall rating: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: /5