Collective Arts Brewing Collective Project/ IPA #3 American IPA at 7.1% ABV | 80 IBU (C$13.50 at The Brewer’s Apprentice, 946 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 14-Mar-2018, reviewed 15-Mar-2018)
Appearance: hazy straw with two fingers of loose white head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, caramel, citrus, earth. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium slightly sticky body, moderate carbonation, sweetish lingering bitter finish. (4/5)
(sigh) Collective, I love you, but you’re breaking my balls here. You’ve gone and set the bar pretty high for me, so now you reap what you’ve sown: what can I say? Competence is its own punishment. This is nowhere near as good as 4 (Hallertau Blanc, Citra, Mosaic), and actually slightly inferior to 1 (Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe, Citra). Which, I guess, shouldn’t be surprising, given the hop selection: Crystal and Citra are fine as supporting elements, but all by themselves, with nothing interesting to provide direction? Risky choice. I end up getting a somewhat muddled tropical fruit aspect that barely outpaces the sweet caramel, and a sticky finish that really doesn’t invite another sip. Yeah, fine, it’s drinkable, but it’s not at the level I’ve come to expect from you, and literally doesn’t make it into your top ten. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
