It’s been a rainy Saturday and I spent most of the day pasteurizing strawberries and peaches for my home brewed Belgian golden strong. I’m now watching The Elite Eight basketball games and decided to have a beer. This is another one I picked up on our Bourbon Trail tripd a few weeks ago. When we did the Bourbon Trail in 2017, we actually stopped at this brewery and had a couple beers. I thought I’d get this one to review since I didn’t spend any time reviewing beers during our last Bourbon Trail trip. The can says, “Your foot leaves the rock ledge and now you’ve committed. That split-second of euphoria is trapped in the can you’re holding. Cliff Jumper is a straightforward, all in citrus IPA. With a blend of four different pops over a balanced malt backbone, this ale is approachable to the uninitiated, but bold enough for the serial hop lover.”
Location: Poured into a TEKU pint glass from the can at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Ingredients: 2-Row and Caramel 60 malts, Columbus, Cascade, Mosaic, and Eureka! hops, and American Ale yeast.
Numbers: 7% ABV, 40 IBUs, ~270 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s golden-orange in color, and fairly hazy. It had a nice, fluffy white head on it, which fell to a thin layer over the top, but still left some nice lacing on the glass. It has a nice juicy-citrus hop aroma.
Taste & Feel: The body is lighter than expected, but it’s still a light-medium. The mouthfeel is smooth and lightly oily from the hops. The hops are prominent up front with some bitterness on top of a juicy citrusiness. The bitterness fades in the middle, giving way to the citrusy hop juiciness. In the finish, the juicy citrus hop flavors slightly edge out the bitterness and both the hop flavors and bitterness last for a couple minutes in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: This beer has a lot of hop juiciness and went great with the taco salad I had for dinner. I think it would also go great with some spicy chicken wings or a spicy Thai dish as well.
Overall Impression: I really enjoyed the mix of juicy citrusy hop flavor with a bit of bitterness and a decent maltiness that adds some sweetness to the juiciness. The balance between hop bitterness and flavor was perfect for me, and the maltiness made the juiciness shine. Overall, I enjoyed this beer quite a bit and will have to bring back more on my next trip to Lexington, KY.
My Rating: 
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