Saugatuck Brewing Company Back Yard Session IPA Session IPA at 4.5% ABV | 45 IBU (US$2.49 at Knightly Spirits Orange Blossom Trail, 375 ml, bottle date 29-Jul-2016, acquired 15-May-2017, reviewed 17-May-2017)
Appearance: hazy deep gold with a short, short-lived off-white head, patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: catty/skunk, floral, grainy malt, citrus. (4/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (5/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate-low carbonation, off-dry lingering bitter finish. (3/5)
Meh. Age hasn’t treated this well. (Yes, I know I’ve been doing shelf turds lately – this should be pretty much the last of ‘em.) It seems like the cattiness is to some extent by design here – with Simcoe and Citra, that can certainly happen. I think they were going more for resiny/pungent, and maybe the fact that this isn’t really doing that is due to age – but I don’t think so. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to have a really good beer from these guys. This isn’t actually terrible, but I can’t say I’d want to have another. (10/20)
5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
