Its a nice sunny day today, but it’s still fairly cold out. Besides, the NCAA tournament is on this weekend. So, I made up some tacos for lunch and decided to grab a beer to enjoy with it. I picked this one up a couple of weeks ago when my friend Joe and I were in Lexington Kentucky doing the Bourbon Trail. I will admit, that I bought this beer totally because of the name and the cool textured can. The can says, “The hipster guy is back but he’s been through the ringer. His year round beanie and non-prescription fashion glasses were finally done in by this piney West Coast style IPA with the perfect blend of Citra, Amarillo, and Simcoe hops.”
Location: Poured into a TEKU pint glass from the can at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 6.8% ABV, ~260 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s an amber, dark, burnt-orange color and it’s pretty hazy. It had a nice creamy head on it that fell after a few minutes to it then layer over the top, but it continued to leave some nice lacing on the glass. It has a piney-earthy and slightly dank hop aroma.
Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouthfeel is crisp from the hops, with a little bit of oilyness. Up front, it has a piney resinous flavor with some earthy-dank hop juiciness. The hop juiciness is slightly sweeter and hightened in flavor in the middle, but the bitterness definitely comes in during the finish. The finish is mostly a piney-earthy hoppy flavor with an equal amount of bitterness. There’s a little bit of dank-earthy hoppiness behind it as well. The aftertaste is mostly the piney-earthy bitterness that lasts for a couple minutes.
Food Pairing: With all of the earthy-piney flavors in this beer, I’d pair it with something flavorful and lightly charred, like a burger or steak.
Overall Impression: This is a solid IPA that balances both hop flavor and bitterness. With all of the hops, the malt doesn’t play much of a role, but it does help to balance it and allow the juiciness of the hop flavors to come through. I enjoyed the earthy hop flavors with a mix of pineyness and dankness, mixing up the flavors through each sip. Overall, I though this was a pretty good IPA and would look for another one the next time we’re in Louisville, KY.
My Rating: 
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