Hutton & Smith "The Promenade" New England IPA

Finally, a beer from Hutton and Smith, public accountancy, LLC. I kid, but this is a terrible name. I get that it's probably two people (probably guys) who just slapped their last names on the brewery and started going to town, but this is not a particularly inventive name, and the can presentation really doesn't make more of a case for this being a particularly inspired brewery or beer. Nevertheless, the two beers that I've had from this brewery so far have been good enough to make me want to try another.

The very big, soapy bubbles cascade out of the can with the veracity of a school of piranha in a bad B-movie. They evaporate as if the CG used to animate the fish was a bit too much for the budget of this movie, so they have to whisk away as quickly as credulity would allow. The muddy bronze beer has the aroma of tropical fruit pits, pomegranate, and a tart dusting of... dust?

First sip is smooth and not at all the jumbled mess that I was afraid it was going to be. Instead, it is fruit meat all the way down with a light tartness that surfs on top of the fruit sweetness. There's a bit of a musk to it that is almost a funk and is a second cousin to some dank. But, it isn't nearly that far - it is sedate and relaxed.

Tip-in is juicy tropical fruit and the impending musk/funk under an almost silky smooth carbonation blanket. The middle presses on with sweet fruit juices of tangerine, papaya, starfruit, and a few less distinct and too subtle fruits. The finish is a flash of carbonation tingle with a rise of funk over tart (still not a lot of it, but enough) as the fruits trail off.

Bottom Line: It has a mission to fruit, and it completes that mission.

3.5/5