The pale gold-yellow beer doesn't have an extreme head, but what it has is thick and leaves lacing, so life is going pretty good. The aroma is bright and shiny pear, apple, resin, and citrus. This sure does say west coast IPA to me with the sweet and crisp scent, but the San Fran-specific aspect is still a mystery to me. I'm not sure beers can really be that hyper-local in style.First sip is tart overall with a swing of sweetness that starts low and goes high by the end, bringing on a bitterness to the tartness. The taste is more unscrupulous with a heavy resin, pear, apricot, and grains aplenty.
Tip-in is almost so tart as to be sour with a mild carbonation tingle and the flavors of plum, pear, and resin taking a back seat to the tartness. The middle rolls with carbonation stinging the whole mouth all at once while the tartness subsides in favor of a bit of sweet, the heavy resin, some grains, caramel, pears, and a hint of citrus. The finish is a wave of bitter snapped off at the end, then a trail off of resin.
Bottom Line: If this is San Fran's take on the West Coast IPA, I'll visit other cities for my beer. This wasn't bad, but it's not even close to best.
2.0/5
