Draught at the brewery, 4/22/16.
After the phenomenal and New Englandy Old Toby, I was hoping for another NE style IPA with this, but alas it was not to be. A mostly clear (light chill haze), copper-bronze body is topped by a white head of small size and frail retention.
Very fruity nose shows a very heavy Galaxy element and I guess all of this moderately acidic pineapple character must be the heavy Summer hop. Haven’t really had much of that (I think Bissell Reciprocal is Summer/Ella) but it’s quite leafy, vegetal (not bad vegetal) and heavily dank/spicy. But a fair amount of acidity/resin too, which I don’t love. Caramel thrown in for good measure but with no alcohol or flaw.
Quite aggressive with the acidity, with tons of woodsy, dank and pine-meets-spicy character. There’s a strong maltiness to it, which shows both a rough, biscuity/crackery flavor/texture, as well as sweet caramel which seems to interfere a bit with the hops. Carbonation and attenuation are appropriate, but it’s more of a traditional West Coast DIPA, slanted heavily to pine and lots of bitterness, with afterthoughts of more easygoing tropical flavors.