Endeavour Brewing Company Sudden Draft – American IPA at 6.8% ABV | 63 IBU (C$4.09 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 9-Jan-2020, reviewed 16-Jan-2020)
Appearance: clear medium amber with one fat finger of rocky ivory head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: bready caramel, nuts, citrus, stone fruit, pine, grass. (6/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium body, moderate carbonation, lingering building bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)
I waffled back and forth a couple of times classifying this: is it an AIPA or an EIPA? The dominance of caramel and nuts is very much in the English style, but the hop character and pronounced bitter tends much more American. Ultimately that’s where I end up: American, because I can’t conceive of an English being so bombastic in its overall profile. That bombast, especially on the tongue, is probably this thing’s saving grace, saving it from being boring, making it instead merely a throwback to the AIIPAs of the former decade. TL;DR: old-fashioned AIPA/AIIPA. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
