# 4984; 5/2026. Piney, zesty, citrus aroma. Murky yellow body, lacing white head. Piney, zesty, light fruity. Medium body, medium carbonation. Very good IPA. 0,3 l, draught, taproom, Hernani, Basque Country, Spain.

Slightly herbal pine and grapefruity hops, flavor is sweet sugary malts, exotic fruity but not sweet exotic fruity, good balance. Decent refreshing ipa

The return of West Coast IPA, the one it all started with if one ignores the 'prehistory' of English IPA (American IPA variants actually arose from American pale ale rather than English IPA directly but that is another story), has enjoyed quite some commercial success in the past few years, though most of these new West Coasts still tend to be linked more to that now-ubiquitous hazy IPA idiom than to the true origins of the genre; so let's see if good old Basqueland can evoke my fond memories of the modern IPAs of two decades ago better than all the rest did so far, a few exceptions aside. Can from DeApotheek in Gentbrugge. Very thick and foamy, beaten egg-white, dense, shred-lacing, firm and stable, pillowy head on an initially clear, pale yellow golden robe with sparse visible sparkling, shifting to misty and more deeply gold further on. Aroma of freshly cut grass and green thistles, dried out white bread, moist white pepper, old dried grapefruit zest, dried sage, even mint somewhere, unripe green melon, touch marihuana, toasted onion, armpit sweat, very vague green bell pepper and green mango. Crisp onset with some lightly sweet notes of pear and apricot, but generally quite dry, with medium carbonation and some minerally effects; smooth body, oily but on the thinner side of it, with cracker- and white bread-like malts passing by, carrying on their back a pleasantly fruity, zesty hoppiness, which - after it has 'kissed' the palate with retronasal aromas of savory, grapefruit zest (if subduedly so) and a bit of yellow kiwi, turns into a long-stretching, peppery, leafy bitterness filling the back of the mouth. It does not become as harsh and spicy as I remember from some of the more 'daring' original West Coast IPAs, but it does go one step further than many other contemporary IPAs - so even if the Idaho 7 used here was never a typical "West Coast IPA hop", so to speak, being invented only in 2015 when NEIPA began to overtake, it does the job quite convincingly. Somewhere in between the originals and the 'imitations' of today, I would say, with a softness and delicacy to it that is perhaps even more reminiscent of APA than IPA. Could, in either case, do with a more persistently grapefruity citrusiness, even though it is certainly there; but generally speaking this is a meritorious attempt at recreating the IPA flavours of decades past - at least more so than many others nowadays. I sometimes forget how skilled Basqueland really is - I should indeed drink their beers more often.

On tap at Goblet Zagreb. Pale golden coloured, medium sized white head, fruity and light pineapple in the nose. Fruity, herbal, light pineapple and floral with bitterish finish. Boring one.

Can from Beer52. Slight misty gold with good sized white top. Citrus, floral and pine resin, fresh hopped aroma. Tangy and fruity citrus and tropical notes with a undercurrent of flora and pine. Mid bodied, semi-dry, fine carbonation.

--Sample, thanks fonefan! -- Almost clear deep golden, mid sized head. Grapefruity nose. Mid sweet with medium body and clean mouthfeel. Fruity, crackety malt. Grapefruit and tangerine. Mid bitter finish.

Sample (thanks fonefan!). Golden colour with a small white head. Aroma is nectar, pineapple, some toffee, mild caramel and some mild nutty tones to it. Flavour is nutty, some floral, mild pineapple and some toffee tones. Tasty.