Port Rexton Brewing Company Azacca NEIPA – American IPA at 5.5% ABV (C$4.26 at NLC Stavanger, 473 ml, packaged on 19-Dec-2019, acquired 21-Dec-2019, reviewed 21-Dec-2019)
Appearance: opaque medium gold with one finger of loose white head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, spotty lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, citrus, pale malt. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry short duration finish. (4/5)
Ya gotta like getting a two-day-old locally brewed beer, doncha? And this is a decent beer, with a nice blast of pineapple / tropical fruit courtesy of the Azacca hops, backed up by some Simcoe citrus. It’s smooth, well-balanced, and pretty pleasurable to drink. To the extent I have any real complaints here, they’re structural: it’s a bit thin in the body, and head development and retention is poor. I think you’d get a better product with similar hopping but a beefier malt bill, providing a bit more body to support these flavours. Yes, to a certain extent I have a tendency to want everything to be a monster DIPA, but I really do think that they’ve shaved this one too thin. (15/20)
7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
