Appearance: This beer comes in an attractive 473mL can, typical of Eighty-Eight Brewing's packaging. The colour palette is appealing with contrasting colours of purple, yellow and navy. The can was marked with the date it was packaged: March 20, 2020. I reviewed this beer on April 18, 2020—so it was relatively fresh. I poured this beer into a Spiegalau IPA glass. The colour was golden verging on orange. The beer was relatively clear but not crystal. After pouring, the beer featured a medium head of foam that dissipated somewhat quickly. The beer laced the glass nicely as I sampled it.
Aroma: A vegetal smell, somewhere between grass (wet) and hay (dry). A slight resinous odour. I couldn't place it but my wife said it reminded her of marijuana. To be honest, there's not much in the way of fruit—and definitely no hint of tropical fruit like the brewery suggests.
Taste: I'm just not feeling this one. A vegetal taste aligns unfortunately with the aroma. As the beer warmed, pine began to dominate the flavour profile. To be honest, this was an improvement as the beer started to resemble something like a traditional American pale ale. Nothing about this beer was reminiscent of contemporary IPAs and there nothing tropical about it.
Mouthfeel: Carbonation seems just about right for the style—so at least there's that.
Overall: I couldn't finish this beer and that is rare. Given my prior experiences with product from this brewery, I'm inclined to think this was an atypical example of this beer that was flawed in some way—maybe it was exposed to cold-side oxidation or an infection, with the former more likely than the latter. In fairness to the brewery, I'm going to try this beer again in a month or two. Eighty-Eight marks their cans with the packaging date of the beer so I will be sure to review a different batch.
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Aroma: A vegetal smell, somewhere between grass (wet) and hay (dry). A slight resinous odour. I couldn't place it but my wife said it reminded her of marijuana. To be honest, there's not much in the way of fruit—and definitely no hint of tropical fruit like the brewery suggests.
Taste: I'm just not feeling this one. A vegetal taste aligns unfortunately with the aroma. As the beer warmed, pine began to dominate the flavour profile. To be honest, this was an improvement as the beer started to resemble something like a traditional American pale ale. Nothing about this beer was reminiscent of contemporary IPAs and there nothing tropical about it.
Mouthfeel: Carbonation seems just about right for the style—so at least there's that.
Overall: I couldn't finish this beer and that is rare. Given my prior experiences with product from this brewery, I'm inclined to think this was an atypical example of this beer that was flawed in some way—maybe it was exposed to cold-side oxidation or an infection, with the former more likely than the latter. In fairness to the brewery, I'm going to try this beer again in a month or two. Eighty-Eight marks their cans with the packaging date of the beer so I will be sure to review a different batch.
Rating: 1 out of 5.