Flathead Lake Brewing Co. Citrus SMaSH IPA American IPA at 6.3% ABV | 68 IBU (US$1.99 at Brix Bottleshop, 355 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 22-Oct-2018, reviewed 28-Oct-2018)
Appearance: slightly hazy pale gold with one finger of rocky white head, excellent retention and heavy clingy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: mild, pithy grapefruit, grass/herbal, dank pine resin. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body tending slightly light, moderate carbonation, off-dry building and lingering bitter finish. (4/5)
High expectations here based on my single prior experience, with their Sour Brown. This is also a case of no packaging or BB dates, but local to where I bought it, so I hoped it was reasonably fresh. (The single malt is Montana 2-row barley, and the single hop is “Equanot” [Ekuanot/Equinox].) And, well, I dunno. The aroma seems slightly mild, at least at the outset, but gradually pithy grapefruit starts to dominate – but is that hops, or the grapefruit adjunct? (And, I guess, does it really matter?) A little after that, some dankness starts to take hold. It seems like a lot of the experience is retronasal, with layers revealing as the pint progresses. Unfortunately, at the same time the bitterness seems to start to feel slightly unbalanced for the body, ending up just a little thin or astringent overall. All in all, it finishes quite a bit better than it starts, but never quite claws its way back up to the kind of territory I was hoping for. (15/20)
7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
