Take a West Coast IPA from 2014, blend it with a WCIPA from 2021, and you get this Cali IPA. It’s a nice balancing act; hop varieties Cryo Idaho 7 and HBC 1019 supply the vibrant fruitiness that oozes from modern IPAs, while Cascade brings the it-ain’t-for-everyone piney punch of old school Westies.
Pour it out, and the first impression is of fruit roll-ups: that full-on sticky fruit character that some people insist is like real fruit while others insist is just a lolly in disguise. And, if you only listened to your nose, you’d assume this beer would be just as sweet.
Thankfully, that’s not the case. The malt profile is lean and clean, and that first sip reassures you of the West Coast character. The fruit flavour is all still there – some apricot, some grapefruit, some pawpaw – but the piney hops rush in and scare away much of the sweetness, replacing it with an earthy edge and balancing bitterness. The more you get into it, the more you notice that the layers of flavour remain, with stonefruit and citrus holding their own even as pine and resin become more distinct.
If you were expecting me to make some witty reference to the Oscar statue on the label, sorry to disappoint. But now that I think of it… are Oscar statues nude?
Mick Wust
Published August 1, 2024 2024-08-01 00:00:00
