I love a can that can a) wig me out and b) be album art, and Trippy Juice West Coast IPA by 7th Day Brewery manages to do both. More importantly, it has to c) taste good when opened, so let's crack that tinny and find out if it can tick that third box too...
Trippy Juice pours the sort of delicate and translucent yellow you may associate with a lager. Less delicate, however, are the aromas: nostril-invading notes of pine, pepper and earth. On the tongue, it sits somewhere between the gentle colouring and aggressive aromas. There’s a sweetness, something tart, a little crispness, then nothing. That is until the hop profile rises from the dead and builds a bitter sandcastle beneath your top sheet: the punch in this is going to dry out your mouth in a way that feels almost cleansing.
I kept coming back to this for big gulps and had to check the ingredients to make sure it didn’t include MSG. It doesn’t, but it does claim to be a "wild hoppy ride". And that's a promise I can confirm 7th Day have most definitely kept.
Benedict Kennedy-Cox
Published October 4, 2024 2024-10-04 00:00:00
