Destihl "Funkengruven" New England IPA

Hey look everyone: this is part of the Deadhead, Grateful Dead tribute series. I remember the first Grateful Dead beer I had. It was actually from these very same guys. In fact, that was the only other beer I've ever had from Destihl. That one was an imperial red IPA, and those are inherently difficult to do particularly well. They tend to be a little watery, and it's almost as if the imperial and the red seem to fight over dominance of what the basic character of the beer is going to be before the IPA even get started. That said, it wasn't bad. I'm hoping for a more overt recommendation with this beer.

This beer has some sediment. There is a large amount of tiny little bits of what I can only assume is grapefruit suspended in the middle of the beer and leading to a thin crust at the bottom of the glass. The rest of the beverage is a yellow gold, and the stark white head has many large bubbles, medium bubbles, and tiny little bubbles, but the large bubbles go way to leave just the other two sizes barely covering the top of the glass. Their grip on the sides of the glass could be better, but at least we're getting some lacing. The aroma is, quite predictably, very grapefruit heavy. Joining the grapefruit is a serious amount of dank, tartness, and grains. This should be fun.

First sip is quite tart. The grapefruit is cut a little bit by the malt that has more bread to it then I suspected in the aroma, but the tartness of the grapefruit is definitely leading the way. There's a bit of a funk and dank going on with the whole thing, and I think that's entirely on brand for the Grateful Dead. I could see this as a more refreshing beverage then a kind of hit you upside the head with complexity that I would find in other members of the NEIPA style. All told, it's straightforward and not bad.

Tip-in is tart with carbonation just barely tingling the tongue while grapefruit and apricot (but mostly grapefruit) do their thing. The middle smooths out, but it's really just more of the same; the only real difference that I can tell is the bread malt just barely coming into view before the finish starts. The finish brings a spike of tart before the grapefruit gets joined by the musty dank and that all just trails right off.

Bottom Line: Just like the last one, this isn't bad, but this one is better. It feels like it has more soul.

2.75/5