The Establishment Brewing Company Sky Rocket II American IPA at 6.5% ABV (C$4.19 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 12-Jun-2019, acquired 14-Jun-2019, reviewed 17-Jun-2019)
Appearance: opaque pale gold with one fat finger of rocky pale ivory head, good retention and moderate stringy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: juicy tropical fruit, citrus, resiny pine, stone fruit, pale malt, hint of lactose. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, moderate bitter lingering finish. (4/5)
Even better than their Afternoon Delight APA, whom I presume was intended to be the lighter version of this one. (Or maybe this one’s the beefier version of that one? I don’t know which one’s the chicken and which the egg here.) For that one, I indicated a hint of green onion in the aroma, but that’s almost completely absent here – there’s the faintest vegetal note in this one, but I don’t think I would have noticed it had I not reviewed my notes for its brother. In-spec bitterness for the style is moderate at most, with hints of tartness and a very faint lactose-like sweetness (oats?) that isn’t present in the APA, but doesn’t go astray with this higher ABV IPA. Damn good stuff. (17/20)
8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
