Four Winds Brewing Co. IPA American IPA at 7.0% ABV | 70 IBU (C$11.50 at The Brewer’s Apprentice, 946 ml, packaged on 22-Oct-2017, acquired 22-Oct-2017, reviewed 23-Oct-2017)
Appearance: clear deep gold with two fingers of loose white head, excellent retention and moderate lacing. (4/5) Aroma: citrus, floral, pale and caramel malt, resiny pine, light herbal. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet tending slightly high, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium slightly oily body, moderate-soft carbonation, lingering building bitter slightly spicy finish. (4/5)
I’m finding this just very slightly too sweet on the front end, and wonder whether that’s at least partly due to the slightly low carbonation, which might in turn be due to this being a crowler that was tap filled 24 hours ago. Other than that, though, this is quite good, with a pleasantly citrus and pine hoppiness on the front end, and a big citrus oil bitter on the back end. Seems a shame to dock it for the effects of what was in my opinion a too-fast crowler fill, so I’m not marking it down for too-low carbonation, but that flavour hit is unavoidable. (16/20)
8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
