Phantom Beer Co. Year of the Unicorn – American Double / Imperial IPA at 7% ABV | 50 IBU (C$4.36 at Collective, 473 ml, packaged on 21-Nov-2019, acquired 9-Jan-2020, reviewed 11-Jan-2020)
Appearance: opaque pale gold with two fingers of loose white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, spotty soapy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: grainy pale malt, tropical fruit, citrus, light pine. (7/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium slightly creamy body, moderate carbonation, medium duration finish. (4/5)
On paper, this is pretty similar to Cabin’s Dawn Chorus I just reviewed, right down to “a little Ella” ANZ hops (in addition to the dominant WA Azacca). But, by just about every metric, it comes up short. It’s a little less pretty structurally, the aroma is less bright, and the flavour is more aggressively bitter. There’s nothing really wrong here, but it certainly suffers by comparison to better examples of the style. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
